Bump In The Night
by Don'tForgetTheNotes
Summary: There's a killer on the loose and he has the StarKids in his sights. Everyone is a suspect...including the StarKids themselves. Contains Laurwalk and Breredith.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: New fanfiction! Yay so this is going to be like suspenseful and stuff :')_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Lauren yawned before sitting up and pulling back the covers. It was Saturday so she'd been able to have a little lie in but it never felt long enough. After a moment she stood and shuffled out of her room.

She headed down the corridor and made it into the sitting room, she nodded at Jaime who was sat on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around her before heading into the kitchen. Lauren poured herself out some coffee before going back to sit next to Jaime. She took a sip before concentrating on the TV. It was the morning news.

"A street downtown is still closed off this morning as police continue their investigations into the double homicide that occurred there last night."

Lauren's eyes widened. It always made her uneasy when horrific crimes happened. She never liked going outside until they were solved as who knows what could happen to her.

"Police sources say a man and woman were brutally murdered late last night. The police are asking all citizens to be on alert and to report any suspicious activity to the police as they have yet to arrest anyone."

Jaime's eyes widened as she heard this. They hadn't caught anyone yet? So the killer was still at large? She pulled the blanket closer around herself and tried to keep her breathing even. The story ended and she glanced round to Lauren. Finally Lauren looked round at her and Jaime saw she looked just as terrified as she felt.

"New house rule, no one goes out alone until they find the killer."

"Agreed."

She smiled slightly before finally standing up. The news had moved on to some less interesting story so with a sigh Jaime padded into the kitchen and started making herself breakfast. She plugged her iPod in to the speakers and pressed play. 'Senior Year' from 'A Very Potter Senior Year' started playing and she couldn't help but smile as she danced around to the upbeat song. There was nothing to be scared about, if they kept on their toes and on alert they would be just fine. People died every day and although it was devastating, you had to think of yourself sometimes. Jaime nodded at this thought and hummed along to the song as she chopped up a banana.

* * *

**1 Week Later**

Brian scanned the front page of the newspaper again before sitting back and looking at his friends. He had his arm draped around Meredith and pulled her hair behind her ear as she rested against his shoulder.

"Can you believe they still haven't arrested anyone?"

He glanced over at Julia as she spoke. The StarKids were all sat in a bar catching up but the main topic of conversation still on everyone's lips were the two killings. It was unusual that the police hadn't caught anyone but there was no evidence. It was as if the killer had vanished without a trace. There was something about the whole thing that fascinated Brian; he had always loved horror films.

"What if the killer strikes again, or there's a copycat killer?"

"If they are going to strike again they are probably waiting a weak or so in the hopes that things will die down a little. As for a copycat killer, they would have probably already killed by now."

Everyone stared at Brian as he finished speaking. He realised instantly that he had probably sounded too calm about that. Two people were dead after all. But even so it still shocked him to think what could have snapped in someone's head to make them a cold hearted killer. He looked around at his friends. Most seemed to be refusing to make eye contact with him as it seemed they were finding their drinks very interesting

"Well who says they're conforming to the rules?"

Lauren slowly looked up at Joe as he spoke. She was leaning against him but she got a strong sense to pull away from him. His words had sent a shiver down her spine. Why would he say something like that? He looked down at her and they gazed into each eyes before he rubbed her arm reassuringly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

She nodded at him and finally looked away but she still felt so uneasy. Lauren took a deep breath and sighed, she just needed to calm down. They would find this killer and then all this worrying would be for nothing.

Meredith stood up and slipped her coat on. She took Brian's hand as they all headed out onto the street. It was cold out so she snuggled into her coat as they all stood around.

"Are you sure you'll be okay June? You can always stay with us for the night."

She watched as Lauren tried again to get to June to stay with her, Julia and Jaime. They were all going home in twos and threes but June had to go home alone. Meredith was worried about her but try as they might; they hadn't been able to change her mind.

"No guys, you know I've got to make a start on these costumes."

Everyone finally nodded and slowly they all set off their separate ways. She smiled at Dylan and wondered slightly why he looked so uneasy. The threat of this killer really was getting to all of them. Meredith kept a tight hold of Brian's hand as they walked along. She would be happy when they were safe and sound at home.

* * *

June pulled her scarf tighter around her neck as she strolled along. She was cold and tired and she couldn't wait to get home. A nice cup of hot chocolate would suit her nicely. But the question was, did she have marshmallows? She smiled to herself as she thought of this. Suddenly she stopped as a figure appeared in front of her. June tried to get around him but he followed her steps.

"I'm sorry, can I get passed?"

"What do you think?"

She barely had time to scream before the hooded figure had clamped a hand over her mouth and was dragging her away.

* * *

_A/N: BYE!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Hello! 2nd chapter! Yay! Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter! :D_

_starkidllamas-llama: Yep! Hehe and yeah haha don't do that XD_

_dance-sing-live: Yeah! Haha XD_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Argh yay! Thank you! :D_

_PotterFanatic: Hahahah! XD_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: Haha I know!_

_sami-sam99: I know! And thanks! :')_

_TearsOfaClown: Read and see!_

_This is going to be a rather sad fanfic so I'll warn you now._

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

* * *

Julia fiddled with her jumper sleeve for a moment before slowly looking up at Jaime and Lauren. Jaime was staring around with a look of worry on her face. Lauren had her phone to her ear and was trying yet again to make a call.

"Maybe her phone died."

"Come on this is June, she never lets her phone die."

She looked away as Lauren spoke. There was no use trying to make excuses. This communication silence was so unlike June. Julia refused to let herself worry as choosing to worry meant having to accept that something bad might have happened to June. And then finally, someone answered Lauren's calls.

"Hello? June?"

"This is Officer Peters of the Chicago PD."

Lauren's breath caught as she heard the man speak. Why did a cop have June's phone? She slowly looked up at her two friends, they had been excited when she had first gotten through but she watched as their smiles fell as they saw the look on her face.

"Can I ask who I'm speaking to?"

"Lauren Lopez."

"Did you know the owner of this phone?"

Why was he talking in the past tense? She knew the owner of the phone. An uneasy feeling went down Lauren's spine and her voice was barely more than a whisper when she next spoke.

"Y-yes."

"I'm afraid I have some bad news."

* * *

The three girls sat in a line in the police station waiting room. Jaime stared into space and absentmindedly wiped away a wave of fresh tears of her face. June couldn't be gone. They couldn't have lost their friend. But they wouldn't be here identifying her body if they hadn't. She slowly looked up as a police officer came to stand in front of them.

"We've called her next of kin, and there are people at the front desk saying they know you."

Jaime looked at her two friends. They both looked tired and upset. It wasn't even midday yet but this day already felt like it had been going on for centuries. The three agreed to stand up and head out to the front desk, the walk was slow and silent and Jaime took her two friends' hands without a second's thought. Finally, they reached the front desk and Jaime saw that Joe, Brian and Meredith had all come to meet them.

"Joe."

Lauren almost ran into Joe's arms and closed her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her. He stroked her hair and made soothing sounds. She tried to control her breathing but everything had suddenly become too much and she didn't bother to wipe the tears off her face. After a few moments Joe pulled away from her but kept a hold of her. He slowly wiped away her tears before kissing her gently on the forehead.

"As long as I'm here, I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

She nodded and finally pulled away from him but she kept a tight hold of his hand. Lauren was so scared. These killing suddenly felt so much more real and she couldn't help by blame herself. They should have tried harder to make June stay at their apartment…but it was too late to think like that now. It was all over the news now that a serial killer was on the loose. Three murders to someone's name earned them that title.

"Come on, Deeds and Jeff are waiting for us in the Starbucks down the street."

Joe led the group out of the police station and they started off down the street. He could feel Lauren's hand trembling in his. He really felt for the girls, it must have been awful having to identify the body. Their friends had all come out to reassure them that they weren't alone in the world. After a moment he glanced across Lauren and shared a look with Brian. One of them should have gone with the girls but at least they were here now for them. At last they reached the Starbucks and headed inside. He spotted Denise and Jeff sat in the corner at once and pulled Lauren over. They got everyone sat down and then he and Brian went up to the counter to order drinks.

"Did you get home okay last night?"

"Yeah, there was a little hold up but I made it eventually."

He looked away as Brian nodded and they reached the front of the line. They ordered and paid for the drinks and then waited.

Lauren watched Joe and Brian at the counter for a few moments before turning to her friends. She felt a little sick. So much had happened today and she just wanted to go home and curl up in her bed. Everyone looked shell-shocked and no one tried to make small talk. Lauren swallowed a few times before summoning up the courage to say something which had been bothering her for a while.

"Guys, what if the killer knows about us?"

Everyone slowly looked up at her, their faces full of confusion.

"How would they know?"

It was Jeff who had spoken. Lauren stared back at him before looking round at everyone else. It sounded stupid now but then why was she so worried. She knew it was probably just paranoia but she couldn't shake the feeling.

"I dunno, it's just why did he go after June?"

Her eyes locked with Julia's as she gently took her hand. There was a deep sadness in her friend's eyes and Lauren knew then how stupid her question had sounded.

"There wasn't any reason why he went after June; it was just a tragic accident."

Denise sighed as Lauren looked away and nodded. She fiddled with Jeff's hands that were clasped in hers and finally looked up as Brian and Joe came back over and sat down. They handed out the drinks and the group sat in silence

The StarKids banded together to be for June's family like the family they were. Chicago wasn't hit by the killer for another 2 weeks and the StarKids could almost believe they were safe again…

* * *

_A/N: I'm sorry if you hate me because this is sad but yeah haha XD_

_BYE!_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: This is rather short I'm sorry but it's just getting into the story :D_

_starkidllamas-llama: Not all of them will…_

_dance-sing-live: Sorry and argh! O_o but thank you!_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: I'm gonna say that's good seeing as I want it to be scary :')_

_Starkidtheatregeek: All will be revealed…and here's the update yay!_

_TearsOfaClown: I know! But thank you!_

_The Author42: Yep and hmm I wonder what will happen…_

_Walker'sLampshade: Hehehehehehehe :D thank you!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Meredith carried the mugs of coffee into the sitting room and handed one to Denise. She curled up on the sofa next to her friend and they sat in silence for a moment before Meredith took a breath.

"So do you think this person they arrested is the actual killer?"

After a moment's silence she glanced at Denise. Denise looked around the room for a moment before returning Meredith's gaze.

"I dunno, it just seems really weird. He's admitted to those first two murders but not to June's."

She nodded as she thought this over. This was true. The man was being adamant that June's death was nothing to do with him. And he had no motive for killing June anyway. The two people he had killed had been his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, he had no reason to kill June.

"Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

No more was said as neither of them knew what to say. Meredith held her mug with both hands and stared into space as she took in the warmth from the cup.

* * *

Lauren looked up from the newspaper as Joe came into the room in just his sweatpants. He walked over and sat next to her before pulling her onto his lap. She rested her head against his bare chest and sighed.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm just still scared."

She did relax a little as he squeezed her to him and traced circles on her thigh. They sat in silence for a few moments and listened to the sounds of each other's breathing.

"There is nothing for you to be scared of anymore Lo, they caught the killer and that's the end of it."

She slowly nodded but for some reason she really couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't the end of it. Lauren had been spending more nights at Joe's over the past couple of weeks as she felt safer with him. If she heard a noise in the middle of the night, it was comforting to know that he was right there beside her. Without thinking she sat up slightly and kissed Joe lightly on the lips.

"Thank you."

Joe looked into her deep, chocolate brown eyes and played with a lock of her hair. He liked that she was spending more time with him. It was nice to have her company in the apartment. They sat in silence for a few moments more before he took a deep breath to speak.

"Some of the guys are heading to that new bar tonight for some drinks, if you want to go."

"Yeah…I'd like that."

He smiled at her and held her to him as he leant forward and picked up the TV remote. A second later he had turned on the TV and they both turned their attention to it.

* * *

Nick Strauss and Chris strolled along the street at an easy pace. They were heading to meet their friends in the bar but didn't see any reason to rush. Nick was excited to get the chance to spend tonight with his friends. They needed to all be together at a time like this. However he came to a stop as he felt Chris' arm on his. He turned and looked at his friend.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

He followed Chris' eyes as they looked around the street. The street was empty but the sounds of people were drifting from the bars and restaurants all around them. It wasn't like they were alone. Chris gazed around the street for a few moments more before slowly turning to look at Chris.

"I dunno, it sounded like someone calling my name."

Nick stared at Chris for a moment but he couldn't help but burst out laughing. He laughed more as he saw Chris' disgruntled expression.

"Sorry man but do you know how vain that sounded?"

Chris laughed as he finally realised how silly he sounded. He let go of Nick's arm and they set off again. They had almost made it to the bar when Chris sensed someone very close behind them.

"Nice evening stroll boys?"

He whipped around just as a masked figure hit Nick over the head with a baseball bat and he fell to the ground. Chris was frozen to the spot as the man raised the bat over his head and hit Nick again. There was so much blood gushing from Nick's head. He was dead, he had to be. The masked figure slowly looked up at Chris and they held each other's gaze.

"So are you gonna run or not?"

He turned tail and ran, he didn't recognised the voice…it was deep and unforgiving. However Chris had barely made it any distance before he heard the swing of the bat and then everything went black.

The killer prodded Chris' back with the bat before using it to push him over. His eyes were closes and he wasn't moving. He stared down at the two bodies for a moment before dropping the bat with a clatter and slipping down an alleyway. In no time he had reached the end of the alleyway and was out in another street. He quickly took of his mask before heading out. A moment later he heard screams and shouts floating towards him from the way he had come.

He was on such a high. Why hadn't this happened years ago? And those little StarKids better watch themselves…as they were top of the list. The amount of time they had left to live all depended on a good old came of 'ip dip doo'.

* * *

_A/N: Ooo who could the killer be?_

_BYE!_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Hello my StarKids friends…(sorry I'm listening to scary music right now XD) I won't be able to update every day from now on as school but I'll keep up with it!_

_TearsOfaClown: I know! :'(_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Yay for liking a story but not shipping Laurwalk XD and woah vase throwing XD I'm sorry haha_

_dance-sing-live: I know! And aww thank you, this feels more like what I'm good at writing as most of the screenplays I write are horrors/thrillers :')_

_Starkidtheatregeek: I know! How could a StarKid kill their own, it has to be someone else and I wonder if anyone will figure it out…_

_starkidllamas-llama: Haha and yeah who will be the next victim? :o_

_Guest: I'm sorry! And who survives counts on who gets picked next._

_sami-sam99: Thanks and it was Nick Strauss :( and I know who is the killer?!_

_PotterFanatic: …_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Nope :'(_

_Vuraangreg: I'm sorry! And it'll be a while before the killer is revealed…and the couples will look after each other!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Joe and the others rushed out of the bar as they heard people screaming out on the street. They hurried over to the crowd that had gathered just a short distance from them. He saw what was on the ground before most of the others did and held them back. Lauren was right next to him and he grabbed her and held her too him.

"Joe!"

"You don't want to see."

He felt her tense at the urgency of his voice and she didn't move from where her head was rested against his chest. Joe watched as a woman across the circle fainted and people rushed to catch her. Two police cars had raced into the street and the cops jumped out and started moving everyone back.

"Where's Brian?"

He looked over at Meredith as she spoke. She was shaking with panic and Joe could hear her panicked breaths. Denise and Jaime were trying to reassure her but she seemed to be past hearing them. They all moved back as the police set up a police line around the bodies. Suddenly he heard Denise scream.

"It's Nick and Chris."

Denise could feel her legs trembling as she looked on. It was their friends! They had thought they had been safe and now this. Maybe that man had been telling the truth when he said he didn't kill June. A horrible feeling came over her. Three of their friends were now dead. Did that mean they were being targeted? She watched as Lauren tried to turn around but Joe held her to him, Denise wish she could un-see the scene before her. It was a bloodbath. She jumped as she felt a hand slip around her waist but she relaxed as she saw it was Jeff. Denise smiled at him slightly before leaning into his arms. Suddenly Meredith was pushing past them and she turned just in time to see her throwing herself into Brian's arms.

"Brian where were you?!"

"I'm sorry, I was in the restrooms."

Meredith didn't try and stop her tears as she hugged him. She had been so worried about him. Two of their friends were lying dead on the street and he had been temporally missing. She relaxed slightly as he felt her rubbing her back. There was so much noise around her but Brian was here and as long as he was, she was safe.

"We should get the girls back inside and then identity ourselves to the police and that we knew Nick and Chris."

She pulled her head away from Brian's shoulder and looked at Joe as he spoke. He stared at each of them intently and finally everyone slowly nodded. They needed order and structure. In the next second Brian had taken her hand and they were all walking back to the bar. Once they were sat down, the boys went back outside. The girls outnumbered the boys tonight so Meredith's eyes were met by Lauren, Denise, Jaime and Julia. The boys who had gone back outside were Joe, Jeff, Dylan and Brian.

"Someone needs to tell Daniel, he shouldn't just find out by the police calling him."

Lauren agreed like the others did and they sat in silence for a few more moments. There was something eating at her, a thought that had been filling her head since she had heard Denise scream the names of their friends.

"Guys, you know what they say. Most murder victims personally know their killer. What if we…we know the killer."

Everyone was staring at her open mouthed. However from the look in their eyes, she knew they were all thinking the same thing. If the killer didn't know them then the odds that he had just randomly picked Nick and Chris as his next victims were a million to one. There were thousands upon thousands of people in this city; you couldn't just strike the same group of friends twice by coincidence.

"Lauren, take a look at all of our friends. Do you really think any of them are capable of murder?"

This made her stop. Denise was right, none of their friends seemed like the murdering type but still that didn't take away from the fact that whoever this killer was, they were targeting the StarKids. She shivered and huddled into her jacket. Would the police do anything to protect them? There were more sirens flashing outside now. It suddenly hit Lauren that this had happened and in the next second, she had burst into tears. The girls didn't say anything as they all crowded round to comfort her.

Finally, the boys came back into the bar and found all the girls huddled together like a litter of puppies. Some of them were even fast asleep. Jeff locked eyes with Denise, she had a sleeping Lauren resting her head on her knee and then Meredith was leaning on her shoulder. The boys all slowly sat down and the girls who were asleep, slowly woke up and yawned. Jeff's stomach was churning. They had been asked so many questions and the police were summoning them all into the station tomorrow for even more questioning. Whenever he closed his eyes all he could see were the bodies of his two friends lying on the ground. He'd never seen a dead body before, it wasn't something you ever really expected to see. The group sat in silence, until finally the bartender came over and told them they had to leave so he could close up.

Jeff stood up and stretched. Denise finally made it over to him and he took her hands.

"Will you stay over at mine tonight? I don't want you out alone."

"Sure."

He hugged her tightly before pulling away but keeping her close. Jeff vowed then to not let anything happen to Denise, not now and not ever. He'd keep her safe until this psycho was found and put behind bars. Once all his friends were ready, he led the way out of the bar and into the cold night air.

The bodies of their friends had been taken away but there were still the white outlines of two bodies. The group stuck together as they walked and only parted when they absolutely had to. Finally it was just Denise, Jeff, Brian and Meredith.

"I just hope they find this bastard soon."

"They will, they always catch serial killers, he'll slip up eventually."

Brian agreed and they walked a few more steps. That was the one thing that always made a killer slip up. He'd leave something at a crime scene that could be traced back to them and then the police would pounce on them faster than the speed of light. But how long would it be before the killer slipped up?

* * *

_A/N: Okay…so how is this going so far? I hope you like it!_

_BYE!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Hello everyone! So I feel this kinda became a bit of a filler chapter but I think it turned out okay :')_

_sami-sam99: I know! :( poor Jeffy! And ahh I hope you don't have any more trouble!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Okay good! :')_

_tin2lo: Hello and glad you're finding it interesting! And same! Now everything is Donoblim and nothing hurts XD and sorry! :'( haha Ryan Murphy that would be interesting XD and ahh interesting theories!_

_dance-sing-live: I know! And you'll just have to wait and see!_

_starkidllamas-llama: Hehe and you'll find out!_

_PotterFanatic: Haha! XD_

_StarkidPD: Woo! Haha yay! And oh I'll continue :')_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Can you imagine Clark?! Well he can probably kill you with his smoulder XD and hmm there are so many suspects!_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Well if that is that case I hope you brain doesn't explode._

_KillingPeopleJustMakesThemDe ad: Aww thank you! :')_

_Vuraangreg: Thanks! And haha anyone could have done it! And hehe they are so cute together! And I'll keep updating :')_

_Guest: Oh wow can you imagine if it was her? Well I'll break my silence and say it isn't but it really would be interesting if it was…_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Jeff rummaged through the cupboard before sitting back and looking thoughtful. He looked around as Denise came into the room and sat down next to him.

"What are you looking for?"

"My baseball bat. We need a method of protection but it isn't here."

He looped his arms around Denise's waist as she slipped hers around his neck. She kissed him gently and he couldn't help but smile. Finally he sighed and smiled at her before falling backwards to the floor and pulling Denise with him. She giggled before sitting up slightly and looking at him.

"Do we need to go out and buy you a new bat? Will that make you happy?"

He laughed slightly as her teasing tone before carefully rolling them over so he was on top. After a moment he pulled a piece of hair behind her ear before trailing his fingers down her neck.

"I love you."

Denise's heart swelled as he spoke. He had only recently said it for the first time and it still sent warm shivers down her spine to hear it. She loved him too and she was happy with him, she was so happy. After a moment she brought her lips up to his and kissed him before pulling on his bottom lip. They lay like that in silence for a while and it was nice to just be in each other's arms. Finally she felt Jeff jostle her so he could check his watch.

"Come on, we're all needed down at the police station."

She sighed but nodded. They got up and set about getting ready to leave. In time they're coats were on and they headed outside.

* * *

The police station was rather depressing. They were asked question after question and Denise got the uneasy feeling that the police were cross-referencing them to see if they could possibly be the killer. Finally a police officer came into the room they were all waiting in. He was carrying a large evidence bag that had a baseball bat in…the murder weapon. It was a sliver bat and Denise could see it was carried in dried blood.

"We've found a set of fingerprints on the bat. Now to continue our investigations, we are going to need all of your fingerprints but before we begin, do any of you recognise this bat?"

"It looks identical to mine but they must sell hundreds of bats like that."

She turned to look at Jeff as he spoke, yeah he had a bat like that but hadn't he said his was missing? What were the odds that his meant missing just as an identical one was used in a murder? All her friends were also staring at Jeff, their faces untrusting. Denise watched as Jeff realised everyone was looking at him and suddenly he laughed.

"Come on guys, you don't think it's my bat do you?"

"Well if you could bring you bat in so we could rule you out of our inquires, that would be greatly appreciated."

Joe stared intently at Jeff as he looked around all his friends for support which didn't come. They were all scared and Joe got the feeling that they were all quickly pointing the finger at Jeff. The police officer moved closer to Jeff as he slowly looked away from them all. He watched as Denise rubbed his arm to get him to speak and finally he took a deep breath and looked up at them all.

"I don't know where it is."

"You…don't know where it is?"

The tension in the room was rising and everyone but Denise had slowly started shuffling away from him and were looking down at the ground. Finally Jeff shook his head.

"How convenient. We'll start by taking you finger prints if you don't mind sir."

He looked on as Jeff looked at Denise for a moment before slowly standing up and following the police officer from the room. As soon as the door had closed the room went in to overdrive.

"Do you think it's Jeff?"

"Jaime, you were there! You were there in the bar before we found Nick and Chris and Jeff was with us the whole time!"

Lauren tried to think of something to say as Jaime and Denise broke down into a full scale argument. Jeff had been there but then she remembered something. And she shouted over her friends to be heard.

"Jeff wasn't there the whole time, he went to the toilet…or said he did."

She steadied her breathing as Denise slowly looked at her. Denise was really looking out for her boyfriend but it meant all of their friends were turning against her too.

"Yeah, so? Brian went to the toilet and I don't see you all ripping him to shreds."

"Hey! Don't you bring Brian into this!"

Brian blinked and slowly looked at Denise. The girls were all arguing and those not involved were just looking on in silence. They really were just going after every small piece of evidence they had. Anarchy was setting in within the group, the trust they had was gone as they began to suspect everyone. He glanced up and found Dylan was staring at him, they shared a look before Brian nodded and slowly stood up.

"Guys, everyone calm down. We can't go round accusing everyone or else we'll fall apart. We need to stick together."

People slowly nodded at him but then they all turned as one as a police officer came into the room. The room fell silence at once and seemed to surprise the officer but he pressed on.

"We found a match. Mr Blim's fingerprints match the prints found on the baseball bat."

* * *

Jeff was bailed pending further inquiries, yes they were his prints but they didn't have anything else to go on yet. Meredith refused to look at him as she stepped up to Denise. She was worried about her friend, she was about to go and spend the night with the one and only suspect in a murder case where their friends were the victims.

"Please don't spend the night with him Deeds."

"He's innocent Mere."

"You don't know that!"

Meredith almost pleaded with her friend but her heart sank as Denise shook her head. She closed her eyes as she hugged her for a moment before pulling away and moving to take Jeff's hand.

"I'll call you tomorrow Mere."

And with that, Denise and Jeff turned and walked away. Meredith slowly walked over to Brian and after a moment he slipped his arms around her.

"She'll be all right."

She nodded but she didn't believe him. The others all slowly dispersed and set off back to their homes.

Jeff and Denise walked into Jeff's apartment and stood in silence for a moment. Denise didn't know why but she knew he was innocent. She knew Jeff and she knew he wouldn't and couldn't kill their friends. After a moment she smiled at him and took her coat off before walking into the sitting room.

"Do you want take out?"

She suddenly realised how hungry she was. Take out sounded great right now. Denise shouted back that she did and they set about reading the takeout menus they had before deciding and calling up to order.

"No I'll come and pick it up."

She stopped as Denise said this into the phone. The restaurant had a home delivery service. Why would he want to go out and get it? The call ended and Denise looked at Jeff.

"Why are you going out for it?"

"It'll be nice to go out in the fresh air, I need it after today."

Jeff watched Denise until she smiled and nodded. He had been cooped up in a police interview room all day so wanted nothing more than to breathe in some good old Chicago air. He waited 10 minutes before kissing goodbye to Denise and heading out the door. The walk to the restaurant was brisk and he made it in record time.

* * *

Nick Lang bobbed his head along to the music playing from his headphones as he walked along the street. His head was filled with ideas for the new StarKid musical as he'd just been to an ideas session with Matt. The street was empty but it didn't faze him. They needed something like a new musical to band them all together and also it's what their friends who had already past would want them to do. He was so deep in his own mind that he didn't hear the person behind him.

He was just about to turn the corner when a hooded figure clamped his hand over Nick's mouth and pulled him backwards. Nick struggled against him but he felt the killer lifting something up and then the whoosh of something flying through the air. And then the knife stabbed into his chest.

The killer pulled the knife out and let Nick fall to the ground. He didn't move as he hit the concrete. After wiping the blood of the knife, the killer slipped away into the darkness.

* * *

_A/N: Do you believe Jeff's the killer?_

_BYE!_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hi guys…I'm crying at this chapter…and sorry if it doesn't flow that well as the ending was going to be in the next chapter but I put it in this one as I don't think I can carry on being the only person reading that bit XD_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: I'm sorry!_

_starkidllamas-llama: I know! But the evidence is there :'( and haha XD_

_dance-sing-live: Yeah :'( and oh my gosh if it was June that would be a total plot twist! And hmm cool! :')_

_Vuraangreg: Ahh cool! And hmm…will I? And thank you!_

_sami-sam99: Aww I'm sorry! :'( and that is true!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Haha who is it though! And okay XD and I have to keep doing that XD_

_PotterFanatic: Ikr_

_StarkidPD: I'm sorry! And who do you suspect! :o and thank you!_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: Oh gosh :'( and oh hey! And I'll try!_

_KillingPeopleJustMakesThemDe ad: But who is?!1_

_tin2lo: Feels explosion! And yeah haha, it would be quite funny if it was Ryan Murphy XD and yeah but most murders are committed by someone the victim personally knew…and hehe :') thank you!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: You refuse! XD and who is it?! :O_

_pottermore2917: It's no one! Haha and thank you!_

_TearsOfaClown: Haha and I know! :'(_

_The Author42: Hey you literally just made it XD I was writing review replies when you reviewed XD I know! Evil person and well the StarKids are beginning to believe it's Jeff…and oh sorry!_

**Okay this chapter contains scenes which some readers may find upsetting.**

_I do not own characters, they are based on members of Team StarKids. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

* * *

Meredith paced up and down the sitting room and checked her phone each time she passed it. She quickly glanced up as Brian walked in but didn't spend too much time thinking about him. Last night she had barely slept as she was so worried about Denise. Finally her phone started ringing and she dashed to pick it up.

"Hello? Deeds? Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine, see, no murders have come and killed me."

She sighed and closed her eyes as waves of relief washed over her. Slowly she sat down next to Brian and he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the head.

"Well thanks for calling me."

"Is that all I get?!"

Meredith laughed as Denise mocked a hurt tone. The girls shared a few more words before Meredith ringed off and sighed.

"See I told you she'd be all right."

Brian smiled at her as she turned round and patted him on the shoulder. There had been no reason to be worried about Denise; she had been perfectly safe last night. They both turned and watched the TV for a few moments as a news story ended, it had been a rather boring story but the next one really caught their attention.

"Yet another brutally murdered body was found last night. He has yet to be formally identified so police are unable to say if he is the fourth victim of the killer who is fast becoming known as the Chicago Ripper. We will bring you more information as it comes."

He stared at the TV for a moment before slowly turning to look at Meredith. At some point during the story, she had slipped her hand into his and was now gripping it tightly. She obviously believed it was one of their friends…and they didn't have long to wait before they found out. Brian pulled out his phone and saw he had a text from Joe Walker.

*Text from Joe*

Nick Lang.

Unable to find words, he simply showed the text to Meredith and watched as her mouth fell open in horror.

* * *

Denise jogged to the wall phone as it rang.

"Hello?"

"Ma'am, this is the Chicago PD. We need to come up and ask Mr Blim some questions."

She looked behind her and found Jeff had appeared in the kitchen doorway. Denise mouthed 'it's for you' and after a moment he nodded. She turned away and allowed them into the building before hanging up the phone and walking over to Jeff, he looked so grave as he took her in his arms.

"Jeff you have nothing to worry about."

"Denise four people are dead and they have no one to blame yet."

"Well I'm not going to let them blame you."

She pecked him on the lips before pulling away and walking over to the door as there was a knock on it. From the sounds of it, Jeff had walked into the sitting room so she was alone. Denise used the time to compose herself. Jeff wasn't a killer, no matter what anyone said but after yesterday, she felt that even he was starting to believe that he was the evil behind these deaths. Finally she blinked and took a deep breath before answering the door.

"Hello ma'am, I'm Officer Williams and this is Officer O'Brien."

Jeff heard Denise talking to the two officers and then the sound of the front door shutting. A moment later she appeared in the room with the two officers and they all sat down. Denise sat down next to him and took his hand. Her support was like his rock right now, as even know, surely if he'd committed these murders he'd remember, it was funny how easily other people's beliefs rubbed off on you. But Denise had never doubted him for a second.

"Mr Blim, I'm sure you know why we are here. Can you tell me where you were last night between 10pm and 1am?"

"Well we got back late from the police station and I went out to get take out for us."

"So you were out of the house…alone?"

He slowly nodded and watched as the officer wrote this down. But he hadn't been anywhere near where they had found Nick's body. Yes, it was close enough that he'd have been able to walk there but the restaurant he'd gone to was in the other direction.

"You can call the restaurant and they'll be able to tell you that he was there."

Jeff and the police officers turned to look at Denise as she spoke. There was that determined look in her eyes that Jeff saw when she was fighting for what she thought was right. The look seemed to make the officers back down at little and they looked away. They said they would call the restaurant. The rest of the questions were fairly easy to answer but mostly showed that the police were still finding it hard to find evidence to build a case against him, so that had to be a good sign. Finally, an hour later, they stood up to leave, saying they would phone the restaurant and then call them with their finding. Both Jeff and Denise showed them out and then Denise hugged him tightly.

"Well done."

He closed his eyes as she whispered in his ear. Jeff breathed in her smell and stroked her hair as they stood in the semi-darkness of his hallway. He knew he wouldn't have been able to get through the questioning without her.

"Thank you."

"It's what I'm here for."

* * *

Lauren dashed over to her phone as it rang. She saw it was Denise and hurriedly put the phone to her ear.

"Have the police been round?"

She had done some thinking the night before and Lauren knew the killer wasn't Jeff. It couldn't be Jeff. So now she was on Denise's side and she wanted to help in any way she could. She smiled quickly at Joe as he came into the room before concentrating on the phone call again.

"Yeah they came, but he has an albi so there's not much they can do."

"Oh thank god, well we'll keep fighting for him, don't you worry Denise!"

She giggled at her own cheesy war cry and looked round to see Joe smiling too. Lauren and Denise spoke a while longer about nothing in particular before Lauren ended the call. She did an almost dance as she skipped over to Joe and hugged him.

"Denise found an albi for him! She realised all they had to get the police to do was call the restaurant Jeff went to!'

Lauren beamed up at Joe as he smiled at her and pulled her into an even bigger hug.

"Does this mean we're getting our friend's name cleared?"

"I think it does!"

Joe laughed and squeezed her. Jeff was on the home straight. As long as no more evidence came up, they wouldn't be able to charge him with anything as he'd been nothing more than innocent.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Denise walked into the kitchen and started rinsing her cup out. She hummed absentmindedly as she did it but froze as she heard a creak behind her. Jeff couldn't be back already could he? Turning off the tap she turned around…but there was no-one there.

"Jeff is that you?"

The silence in the apartment was almost deafening. In a second she had rushed over to the radio and turned it on. Music filled the room but it did little to calm Denise's nerves. Slowly, she walked out into the hallway and looked around. There seemed to be nothing out of place but she couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't alone. Denise dashed around the corner and up to the front door. She tried the handle but it was locked and the key wasn't in the lock like she knew it had been.

"Shit!"

She pulled on the handle but it didn't budge. Her breath caught as she heard another creak coming from the sitting room. Why had she left her phone in there when she'd gone into the kitchen? Hugging the wall, she slipped back along the hallway and past the sitting room door. However she only made it a few steps past before someone grabbed her by the back of her shirt.

"No!"

Denise struggled against the hooded figure as he pulled her into the sitting room. He threw her onto the floor and watched her for a moment. This was it. She was going to die, but she didn't want to die!

"My boyfriend is gonna be back real soon and he'll make you pay."

"Oh I'm sure he will…"

She stopped. She recognised that voice. The person was clearly trying to make their voice deeper than it naturally was but it was a voice she knew. Denise scrambled away as the killer slowly walked towards her. His dark clothes weren't recognisable and neither was his walk…he was padding towards her like a predator hunting its prey. Finally she felt her back hit into the sofa, she couldn't go any further. The killer stopped just in front of her and seemed to be waiting for her to speak.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Do you know what it's like Denise, to literally watch the life leave someone's eyes? It quickly becomes addictive."

This guy was crazy. His words hit into Denise like icy cold water. And he knew her name. His hood was pulled so far down that she could only just about make out his chin and you couldn't identify anyone from just that but it was familiar. Suddenly he lunged at her and put his hands around her neck. She slipped down to the floor as he cut off her oxygen flow. She couldn't breathe…her lungs were burning as they strained to take a breath, she coughed and spluttered but it was hard to think straight when you couldn't breathe. No. She refused to let this happen, so even though her vision was blurring as she slipped into unconsciousness, she used the last of her strength to punch the killer.

The killer groaned before releasing his hands from Denise's neck and rolling away with the force of the punch. Eurgh…he'd forgotten about Denise's right hook. She could kill someone with that. Well she could have. He rubbed his head for a moment before turning back to Denise. She had rolled onto her stomach and was trying to pull herself up. There were already bright red marks appearing on her neck and she was still gasping for air. He wasn't letting her off so easily so he quickly stood before pulling her onto her back and kneeling down so his knees were pinning her arms to the ground. He wasn't going to take any chances this time. Denise struggled for a few moments under him but then fell still as he slowly pulled out a role of plastic string.

Maybe he should give her one thing to remember him by…so slowly; he lifted up his hand and pulled his hood down. The killer smiled as Denise's eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

"It..it can't be you…"

"Afraid so, now if you don't mind, I'm a busy man."

"They're gonna find out it's you."

Her voice rasped as she spoke, her lungs still not use to breathing normally again but that wouldn't last long. He quickly wrapped the string around her neck, pulling her up by her hair when she tried to stop him and then pulled it tight.

"Oh I'm sure they will, too bad you won't be here to see it."

He pulled the string even tighter and held it as he watched Denise start to gasp again. She managed to wriggle one hand out from under his knee and pulled at the string but it did more harm than good as she scratched at her own neck. The noise she was making was horrific but then again she couldn't breathe. Finally, he felt her body slowly relax and then fall still as her hand fell away from her neck. And then she stopped gasping for breath. The killer slowly let go of the string but it only loosened a little, the only movement it caused Denise was for her head to loll to the side. Her blue eyes were wide and staring and slowly, a tear escaped one of them.

With a cough, the killer slowly stood up and dusted off his clothes. He pulled the bunch of keys that he had hidden in his pocket out and left the room. The killer slowly unlocked the front door and slipped out.

* * *

_A/N: Don't worry I know what a terrible person I am. This is why I'm crying and today I looked at a picture of Denise and cried, I feel terrible and I'm going to go curl up in my sock drawer now._

_Until next time…BYE!_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry if the last chapter was upsetting :'( and who is this killer?!_

_The Author42: I'm sorry! :'( here's a cookie! And I'm not saying anything about the killer…_

_Coolest Girl: I know! :'( I cried so much!_

_dance-sing-live: Argh haha XD and hmm yeah Denise and Jeff could have been working together…and yeah I really like writing it and then I'm like o_O haha XD_

_StarkidPD: Hmm but would he set up Jeff like this? And it's someone who lives in Chicago…glad you like it!_

_KillingPeopleJustMakesThemDe ad: I know! :'( and suspense is good! XD_

_pottermore2917: I'm sorry!_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: I'm so sorry! But the story demanded it…and argh! Just carry on reading and see what happens…_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: And yes they have to do that!_

_PotterFanatic: Haha oh Izzy :') And yeah I feel this is my best one yet :') and yeah if only Denise could have said his name! XD_

_Princessmag: Aww thank you! :') and yeah but people do go crazy sometimes…_

_Starkidtheatregeek: I know! And they have to find them soon!_

_Unfudgejourself3: Haha that would be funny XD_

_sami-sam99: I'm sorry! Huggles!_

_starkidllamas-llama: Argh reading in class! Bad idea! Don't cry!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: I did and here have a cookie :'(_

_Vuraangreg: And maybe someone went insane or something…then they'd kill anyone and yeah so then they'd know…_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationship mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

"I'm sure she just can't hear the phone Jeff."

Jeff closed his eyes and took deep breaths as he listened to Lauren on the other end of the line. He had been trying to get through to Denise for the past half hour and she wasn't answering. His stupid boss wouldn't let him leave work to go and check on her so he had called Lauren in the hopes that she could.

"But what is she doing that means she can't check it?"

"I don't know."

He ran a hand through his hair and looked up as his boss came into the room. Personal phone calls weren't allowed but before he could protest Jeff gave him such a look that the man almost ran out of the room. He came back a moment later however.

"If you're this worried about her Jeff…just leave."

He was up and out the door before the man had even finished speaking. Lauren was out shopping with Meredith so he told them both to meet him at his apartment. Jeff refused to let himself believe that anything bad had happened to Denise. It couldn't happen to her, he'd sworn to protect her.

Finally he made it to his building and saw Meredith and Lauren waiting outside. He keyed them all in and then ran ahead of them. He stopped outside of his front door…it was open slightly. No. This couldn't be happening. Slowly, he pushed the door open and went inside.

"Denise?"

There was no reply but her coat was still handing up on the rack of coats…she wouldn't go anywhere without it so she was still here. Lauren and Meredith still weren't here, how fast had he run? He walked further into the apartment and stopped outside the sitting room door.

"Deeds?"

He turned and walked into the sitting room. Jeff's mind went blank as he saw her. He ran to her side and knelt down next to her before taking her face in his hands. Her eyes were vacant and Jeff carefully lifted up his hand to close them. She was cold, so cold. She couldn't be gone, Denise couldn't be gone. Finally he heard Lauren and Meredith dash into the apartment but he couldn't take his eyes of Denise. Meredith screamed behind him and there was a bang as she obviously collapsed to the floor. Jeff rubbed his eyes angrily as they started filling with tears, he was angry at who ever had done this to her. They would pay. But then it suddenly hit him and his anger drained away. Denise was dead.

"Jeff we need to call someone."

Jeff didn't even look round as Lauren spoke. He pulled Denise's head onto his lap and stroked her hair back. Finally he looked up at Lauren and Meredith. Meredith was sobbing and had burrowed her head into Lauren's shoulder. Lauren was trying to comfort her by rubbing her back but he could see her hand shaking and tears were running down her face.

"This is my fault."

"Jeff no it's not."

"Yes it is."

Lauren carried on rubbing Meredith's back whilst staring at Jeff. His face was pale and he was staring down at Denise as if he couldn't quite believe what had happened. And he thought it was his fault? Why would he think that? He couldn't have possibly been here to stop it. She watched as Jeff took off his jacket and threw it to the floor.

"Jeff you can't blame yourself."

"I told her to lock the front door, I should have checked it."

She looked away as Jeff stared at her. Lauren knew he would always blame himself. But right now she couldn't think about Jeff. They had to think about getting people here who could help because their friend was dead. Five of her friends were now dead. June was the only one who had been buried so far. The coroner had yet to release the bodies of Nick Strauss, Chris and Nick Lang. They were holding them as evidence so they probably wouldn't be released until the case was solved…or was shut down. Being careful not to jostle Meredith, she pulled out her phone and dialled a number.

"Joe, you need to get over to Jeff's apartment. D-denise is dead."

As she spoke the words, Lauren broke down and could barely speak anymore. She just about heard Joe say that he was on his way before her phone fell away from her ear and she clung to Meredith. Denise couldn't be dead, how could someone have murder her? Surely this would be evidence enough, Jeff was the only suspect and he would have NEVER harmed Denise, it was clear to everyone that he loved her more than words could describe. Lauren's breath caught as she heard him sniff. He was crying. The police were going to come and just presume it was him. It would destroy him to be accused of Denise's murder…but as she watched him carefully stroke her cheek, she knew it had already destroyed him.

* * *

Meredith sat on the sofa and dug her nails into her palms to try and stop them from shaking. She watched as two police officers brought a body bag in and opened it out next to Denise whilst people from forensics, dressed in white bio hazard suits had come in and were photographing the crime scene. Slowly, she turned as Joe came into the room. He looked around for a moment before coming over to them. Jeff had been taken into the kitchen for questioning so she was sat with Lauren; Joe sat down next to them.

"What happened?"

"They're saying the killer strangled her."

She shuddered as Lauren said this. The others had all died seemingly quick deaths but to strangle someone, that had to take time. Meredith hated the idea that Denise would have had a slow and painful dead. They all looked up as a man in a suit and a long black coat came into the room. It seemed everyone had stopped as he had entered the room. Meredith knew who he was, the city coroner. She locked eyes with him as he looked at them all.

"Katie?"

"Yes sir?"

A woman, probably the same age as Meredith appeared behind the coroner. She was dressed in a white bio hazard suit and had a mask around her neck. The coroner slowly looked from her to Lauren, Meredith and Joe and then back again.

"Why are there people in my crime scene?"

"They're just waiting to be interviewed by the police…"

"Well they can wait somewhere else."

Joe watched Katie as she nodded quickly before coming up to them and gesturing for them to leave the room. However it seemed Meredith wasn't ready to leave her friend. She pushed past the forensic people and knelt down next to her friend. Joe really felt for her…it must be awful to lose your best friend in such an awful attack.

"Bye bye Deeds, we'll find who did this."

Everyone in the room except for Lauren and Joe gasped as Meredith took Denise's hand before leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. The coroner stepped forward and loomed over Meredith.

"Ma'am what you are doing is causing damage to a crime scene."

"She's only saying goodbye to her friend."

He held Lauren back as her fiery temper began to show through. They didn't want to get kicked out of the apartment all together after all. After a moment, he noticed Jeff's jacket on the floor and moved to pick it up.

"Sir if you don't mind…"

"That's Jeff's jacket, he took it off after we found her."

The coroner slowly nodded and allowed Joe to keep it. Meredith was still holding Denise's hand and seemed to be refusing to leave.

"Where will you take her?"

"She is the property of the Chicago Coroner's Officer so will be taken to the city morgue."

"She's not property, she's a person."

Meredith looked down at Denise whilst wiping away her tears. They were going to take her and probably do an autopsy and then she'd be put in one of those massive refrigerators and left there. Suddenly Meredith looked up as she heard movement right by her. It was Katie. The woman smiled at her reassuringly, unlike the coroner, this woman seemed to understand that Meredith had only wanted her moment. Meredith smiled back before letting Katie help her up, the two shared a knowing look before she escorted the three friends out of the room.

They ended up in Jeff's bedroom and sat on his bed in silence. She played with her hands as they waited and tried to think of something to say but there was nothing. Sounded drifted in from the sitting room and eventually they heard the squeak of a gurney as Denise was wheeled out. Muffled voices could be heard from the kitchen, Meredith wondered what questions they were asking him and then suddenly…a phone in their room started ringing.

"That's Denise's ring tone."

Where was her phone? And who was calling her? Suddenly police officers swarmed into the room and everyone froze and listened to the song…it was Call Me Maybe. Denise had always enjoyed annoying her friends with it. It stopped as no one answered it but once an officer had rung it again, the song filled the room. And then slowly everyone looked at Joe as they realised it was coming from him. Why did he have her phone? Joe slowly looked at everyone and then lifted up Jeff's jacket to his eye.

"It's in Jeff's pocket."

Lauren held her breath as the officer, with a grave look on his face slowly took Jeff's jacket from Joe. A second later he had pulled Denise's phone from it and held it up for all to see.

"We had called her phone in the hopes we could track its location and maybe find her murderer…but it's here."

She tried to control her breathing as the officers slowly left the room with the phone. Lauren paced up and down to try and clear her head. It had been in Jeff's pocket. But he had called it, she herself had called it. If he'd had it all along…why had he tried so hard to reach Denise? She looked at Meredith and Joe who were both looking at their feet.

"Jeff did it…didn't he?"

"No Meredith, we can't think like that."

She scrambled forward and knelt down in front of Meredith. Meredith was staring off into space and seemed to barely register Lauren's presence.

"But Lo, he had here phone and his alibi for Nick's murder was lukewarm at best."

Lauren stared from one of her friends to the other. They couldn't leave Jeff, Denise had known he was innocent and now she was dead. What if someone was trying to set Jeff up?

Jeff put his head in his hands as he listened to the detective calling his work. How had Denise phone got into his pocket? Were the police trying to set him up? There was pressure on them to find a killer and he was their best bet. Finally he looked up at the detective got through.

"Hello sir, this is Detective Smith of the Chicago PD. I need to ask you some questions about your employer, Jeff Blim."

He could hear the voice on the other end but not what they were saying. However it seemed they were willing to answer any questions at the Detective pushed on.

"Would you be able to tell me Mr Blim's whereabouts between the hours of 12 and 2?"

There was another silence and Jeff knew what was coming, he didn't need to hear it to know. Denise would have been taken out by now. He hadn't even gotten to say goodbye. The police had come in and instantly pulled him out into the kitchen and now all they were doing was finding enough evidence to be able to arrest him and take him down to the police station.

"Oh…he went out on his lunch break…and he was late back?"

He slowly brought his eyes up to the detective's and they stared at each other. The question came 'why were you late back' but there hadn't been a reason…so he couldn't give one. This more or less sealed his fate and in the next second they were challenging his alibis for all the murders. Without Denise at his side, he crumbled and stumbled over his words…which sounds a lot like you're lying. And then they were asking him to stand up as an officer stepped forward and before he knew it, he was being handcuffed.

"Jeff Blim, I am placing you under arrest on suspicion of the murders of June Saito, Nick Strauss, Chris Allen, Nick Lang and Denise Donovan. You have the right to remain silent however anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of law. "

Brian was about to walk into the apartment when he saw people were already coming out. His eyes widened as he saw it was Jeff being led by two police officers. Once they were gone, he slipped into the apartment and past the sitting room, which had crime scene tape barring the door and finally found his friends. He pulled Meredith into a tight hug and stroked her hair as she started to cry. Brian looked over her shoulder and saw Joe was sat on the bed with his arm around Lauren. These girls had been through a lot and had lost their friends. Thank god Jeff hadn't decided to kill them when he's called them over to 'find' Denise. But Jeff was in police custody now…and the StarKids were all finally…safe...

* * *

**The Next Day**

Lauren took a deep breath before pushing open the door and heading into the building. She'd come to the morgue as she had questions…that needed answering. Jeff had spent the night in jail and it was already all over the newspapers that the Chicago Ripper had been caught but Lauren still believed he was innocent. Despite Joe and all their friends saying otherwise, she knew he couldn't be the killer. She took a deep breath before walking up to the small reception that was ahead of her.

"Erm hi, my name is Lauren Lopez. I have an appointment with Katie Harrison."

As if on cue, Katie appeared from a room and smiled at her.

"Ah hi Lauren, come through. I was just about to start."

She suddenly realised what Katie was wearing and her stomach churned a little. Katie had on a white gown with a blue apron on over it. However Lauren couldn't think of this as Katie gestured to her to follow before turning back into the room. Lauren slowly followed Katie into the large clinical room. She walked up to the examination table in in the middle of the room and carefully pulled back the sheet that was covering the human body shape. She gasped as she saw it was Denise. Her skin was ghostly pale and her blonde hair was duller than Lauren remembered it. She'd only been dead a day and yet she almost looked like a different person. Katie pulled the sheet as far down as her shoulders before folding it over. She watched as she slowly started unravelling the plastic string with a pair of tweezers.

"Is that was killed her?"

Katie pulled a piece out and put it in a metal dish before looking up at her.

"The cause of death will be strangulation but there are two different versions."

"What?"

Lauren stepped forward as she gestured to her and came almost up to the table. Katie used the metal tweezers to point out two large groups of busies on Denise's neck that Lauren hadn't noticed before.

"It's like he tried to strangle her with his bare hands first."

"How do you know it was first?"

She followed Katie with her eyes as she came round to the side of the table Lauren was stood on and lifted up the sheet to reveal Denise right arm. There was a circular bruise just below her elbow. That seemed an odd place for a bruise and Lauren frowned as she looked at it but looked up as Katie spoke.

"She has a matching bruise like this on her left arm too, as if the killer pinned her arms down."

"Why would he do that?"

Lauren stepped back slightly as Katie moved down Denise's arm to her hand. She held the hand up to Lauren and she saw that one of her knuckles was a deep purple.

"Her knuckle is cracked and fits with her punching something…hard. Coupled with the fact that she has scratch marks on her neck that seem to be her scratching at the string in an attempt to loosen it, tells us that she fought back."

She smiled slightly at this. At least Denise had given up to the very end. She'd always been a fighter. Lauren watched as Katie held onto to Denise's hand for a moment before slowly putting it back under the sheet.

"Is everything okay?"

This seemed to bring Katie back to earth and she picked up the tweezers again.

"Yeah, I was just wondering, she most likely punched her attacker. Do any of your friends have mysterious facial bruising?"

Lauren shook her head and Katie looked away before carefully pulling out another piece of the string. It had cut right in to Denise's skin and Lauren's stomach flipped as she watched…she had never been good with medical things.

"So you don't believe it was Jeff?"

This question seemed to surprise Katie and she thought over it for a moment.

"No I don't, in my line of work, you meet a lot of murder victims and that means that with court cases, you see a lot of murderers. And Mr Blim is not a killer. But the police want to charge someone and they will find the evidence to charge him."

She nodded at this and watched for a few moments more. However Lauren noticed something, the string seemed to have cut deeper on the left side of her neck.

"Is it normal for the string to cut deeper on one side?"

"Oh yes, it means the killer was right handed as you pulled harder with your stronger hand."

Lauren watched as Katie pointed this out and how the end of string that had been in the killer's right hand had done the most damage. She looked up at Katie as she suddenly made a hmming sound before putting down her tweezers and walking over to a table. After she had pulled off her gloves, she started looking through some photos.

"This is where this whole murder case is strange."

"How is it strange?"

"Well they said the murder weapon used in the murders of a Mr Chris Allen and a Mr Nick Strauss belonged to Mr Blim."

She was confused as to where Katie was going with this. This was stuff she already knew, it was what everyone knew.

"Well I examined those bodies and I deemed that the blows had been received to the left of the head as the killer was left handed so swung from the left."

So the person who had killed Nick Strauss and Chris had been left handed? But then how could a right handed person have killed Denise?

"And then Nick Lang's body came in and the report said the killer had come up behind him, reached round and stabbed him. But the knife had entered at a slant from the right, meaning it had been held in the right hand…most likely by a right handed person."

This was almost two much for Lauren to deal with. All this was quickly making her believe one thing…there was more than one killer…

* * *

_A/N: Yes…there is more than one killer…_

_BYE!_


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Hello! Okay first things first. I just decided which killer is left handed so don't think you can get round with thinking about who in StarKid actually is left handed…sorry!_

_The Author42: Yep! :') And haha Clark is in the StarKid band and did all the arrangements for their tours and Ryan Murphy is the writer and creator of Glee XD and nope no one died :')_

_AllThatIWant: :'( and thank you! Well everything is pointing to Jeff…_

_Coolest Girl: Thank you!_

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: Haha take deep breaths! XD and you'll have to try and find it if it's there XD and haha Chris and Nick can just rise from the dead haha_

_PotterFanatic: Hmm haha well we'll have to see if there's anymore…and yeah he has to be cleared!_

_Dapper Dino: Yes. It is Rick Richter XD_

_dance-sing-live: Haha I KNOW!_

_TearsOfaClown: Yes there is! :o and it someone who lives in Chicago…_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: I'm sorry! And it might be Jeff it might not be…_

_Unfudgejourself3: Haha! No it's someone who lives in Chicago_

_Starkidtheatregeek: It might not be someone who is actually left handed in real life so keep guessing XD_

_sami-sam99: I know!_

_starkidllamas-llama: Yeah haha it ended up being so long! And thank you!_

_make-love-happen: Haha they are actors though so people could be acting to cover their actions…and here's the new chapter!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: The left handed killer might not be left handed in real life (it's for the purposes of the story) and haha well someone very much wants it to be Jeff._

_Vuraangreg: Well they all believe it's Jeff…and I didn't check what hands people write with so that might not be true to life…and haha no Katie's harmless…she's just that creepy girl who spends all her days with dead bodies XD and thank you!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_CLUE: The killers live in Chicago._

* * *

"So there's two killers?"

"Two at least."

"Well don't the police know?"

"It's in the reports but they have enough evidence against Jeff without it."

Katie pulled her gloves back on and moved back over to Denise. She carried on pulling out the string and soon it was all in the metal dish. Finally she looked up at Lauren and it surprised Lauren how serious she looked.

"But be carefully who you tell this to."

Lauren looked at her and frowned. Her friends had a right to know this stuff.

"Why?"

"It seems someone is trying very hard to pin the blame on Jeff. Denise was standing in the way of this so they silenced her."

She nodded and stared at Denise for a moment. Lauren still couldn't believe she was gone. They'd lost their fellow Glow* girl. The fans had obviously found out through the news and the StarKid's tweets and they had received so many kind words and messages of support. Lauren suddenly sniffed and looked away whilst rubbing her eyes as Katie looked up at her.

"I'm sure it's a lot to take in."

Lauren nodded and folded her arms. This all felt like a dream. But she knew she couldn't wake up as this was the real world...and in the real world people died. She jumped slightly as she heard a flash go off. Katie had picked up a camera and started taking pictures of Denise's neck.

"Losing a life so young is such a shame."

She smiled as she thought of Denise. Her friend really had been something else. Her sense of humour, her personality and her smile. And now it was all gone and she was here, lying on a cold, metal examination table.

"Ah, if you'd been able to meet Denise. She was one of the happiest people I knew."

They shared a smile and Katie sighed before putting the camera down on the desk and picking up a voice recorder.

"If you don't mind."

Lauren nodded and smiled before looking around the room. She heard Katie begin to speak into the recorder about the condition of Denise's injuries and then a rustle as she pulled the sheet back over her head.

"Well it was lovely speaking to you Lauren and don't heistate to call me if you think of anything more."

"Who do you think it is?"

This question seemed to hit a cord with Katie and she didn't look at Lauren as she carried the metal dish and tweezers over to the sink and put them down next to it before washing her hands. Lauren stared at her back for a few moments before she heard Katie sigh. The tap turned off and she slowly turned around.

"I don't know, I don't know the people involved. All I can go off is the cold hard facts that the baseball bat murders were done by a left handed person and the stabbing and strangulation by a right handed."

Lauren thought this over before thinking of something else. June. What had happened to her? They had been told she had had a severe head tumour but nothing else.

"What do you know of June's injuries?"

"June Saito? They hit her head against the concrete so there's no way of telling if they were right or left handed."

She shuddered as she thought this over. So there was no way of knowing with June. Lauren sighed and checked she had her things. Katie led her out of the room and back into the reception. Just as they were about the say goodbye, the door opened and the coroner came in. The man scared Lauren, a lot. He was tall…well over 6 foot and there wasn't a thing out of place on his black three piece suit. He looked at them for a moment before taking a breath.

"I want to start the autopsy on the body found this morning."

"Yes sir, I just need to finish with Miss Donovan."

The coroner nodded before heading towards what seemed to be his office. Once he was gone, Lauren turned to Katie and saw she was smiling. It didn't take long before Lauren was smiling too.

"Is it just me who finds him terrifying?"

"Oh no, we all call him the Grim Reaper. It's been a long time since that man has shown any emotion."

Lauren finally said goodbye and headed out on to the street. She needed to think through everything. There was more than one killer. But who were they? It was someone they knew, it had to be. Who of their friends could possibly turn against them? She couldn't even begin to think about who it was so for now, everyone was a suspect. Lauren guessed they would just have to wait until the killer struck again.

* * *

Jaime carried the popcorn into the sitting room and put it down on the table. It seemed all of their StarKid friends had decided to spend the night at their apartment. She stepped over Joe, Lauren and Dylan and sat down on the floor next to Clark. After pulling a cushion onto her knee she looked around the room. There was Julia and Lauren, obviously as they were her roommates and then there was Joe, Brian, Meredith, Dylan, Corey, Jim, Daniel and Matt. And soon, there would be more of them, Darren, Joey and Brian R were coming up for the weekend and then Joey and Brian R were going to stay for the next week. They were planning a memorial service for their friends as it didn't seem likely that the bodies of four of their friends would be released anytime soon.

"So how do we plan a memorial service?"

She sighed and thought over Julia's question. Their friends' families were letting them plan the service but none of them had ever done anything like this before. What did that have to get? There had been talk of them all doing readings and making a slideshow of pictures but sometimes it didn't quite feel real for Jaime. But Jeff was in jail now and as much as Jaime hated herself for it, she did believe he was the killer. She felt terrible for abandoning her friend but she was tired of feeling so terrified all the time and there was evidence against Jeff so she could kid herself that now he was locked up everything would be okay.

"I have a song I want played."

Everyone watched as Lauren hopped over to the laptop that was open on the coffee table and brought up YouTube. Jaime moved closer as Lauren typed something into the search bar and brought up the results. It was a song called 'Funeral Song' by someone called Laura Gibson. Everyone was silent as the song played out. It was slow and had a peaceful beat and Jaime found herself tapping her hand gently to the beat. The song ended and everyone stayed quiet for a few moments. It was a beautiful song and so it went at the top of the list as they set about making their plans. They didn't talk much; the only conversation came when someone asked a question. Finally Jaime laid down on the floor and put her earphones in. She flicked through the songs and eventually closed her eyes as she listening. Something had changed, a calmness had set in with them because surely they were all safe now and no more of them would die.

* * *

_A/N: Defiantly YouTube Funeral Song…it's so pretty._

_So no death again…surely that means Jeff is the killer…_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Hi guys! We broke 100 reviews! Epp! :D I LOVE YOU GUYS!_

_The Author42: I know, what would anyone? And haha you do that!_

_dance-sing-live: They won't! :') and it could be anyone!_

_PotterFanatic: Really?_

_hogwarts2312: I know! And haha don't be mean to the Grim Reaper XD And thanks!_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: No they're good!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: It can't be! Or can it?_

_starkidllamas-llama: Aww thank you! And I know! XD Wait and see!_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: Aww really? Aww hehe and haha okay and no the killers are boys._

_Starkidtheatregeek: Haha okay so does that mean Jeff is not the killer?_

_StarkidPD: Hahah he is awesome :') and I know right! I just found it and loved it instantly_

_Vuraangreg: Hahaha aww and yeah :') and wait and see…_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

Joe looked at himself in the mirror for a moment before spraying his deodorant. Two weeks has past and there hadn't been anymore killings. Jeff had been bailed whilst they waited for the trial but they were still regularly calling him in for questioning...or so he heard. Lauren was really the only person who was still sticking up for him. He'd heard her say to the girls that she felt she owed it to Denise to look out for Jeff.

With a sigh, Joe walked out of the bathroom, into his bedroom and started getting ready. Although Darren had only been able to stay for the weekend, Joey and Brian R were still here and were staying at Joe's place. As he put on his stiff white shirt he could hear them moving about the apartment. Today was the memorial service. It seemed like they were finally in the clear now. They seemed to be safe now.

"Joe, do you have a black tie I can borrow?"

He looked around as he heard Joey's shout.

"Yeah I do."

Joe got the tie out of his closet and handed it to Joey as he came in. The two shared a look and Joey stayed in his room as he used the Joe's closet mirror to do his tie up. Joey and Brian R had been so helpful to everyone in their time in Chicago. They had run around doing errands for the planning of the memorial service and been a shoulder to cry on when they needed it. Joe knew it was hard for them as they hadn't been here through the deaths; it was like they were picking up the pieces.

"How are you holding up buddy?"

Joey watched Joe as he thought over the question he had just asked but he turned to look at Joey. When he had got off the plane two weeks ago, the friends that had met him had been far from the friends he knew and love. When they were all together there was a subdued atmosphere and often he had seen smiles that didn't reach people's eyes. He didn't know who the killer was. It was just expected that he'd think it was Jeff but Joey didn't believe that. He didn't believe that for one second. But who else could it be? And he couldn't escape the fact that since Jeff had been arrested, no one had been killed.

"I'm okay, I'm just worried about Lauren and the other girls. They've been sticking together but I know they're still scared."

He nodded at this and turned back to straighten his tie for a moment. They were all in mourning clothes. Joey normally hated wearing a suit but he'd do anything for the memory of his friends. He had walked in to Julia, Jaime and Lauren's apartment when they had just received a parcel of 5 enlarged photos of their friends ready to put up in the memorial service. It had suddenly struck him that they were gone. He had picked up Denise's photo and just stared at her wide smile and sparkling blue eyes and then he'd known for sure that Jeff wasn't the killer. Jeff wouldn't kill Denise; it would take someone truly cold hearted to kill Denise Donovan. Joey blinked and brought himself back in to the room.

"Yeah well we're all here to look out for them."

"Yeah but the killer's been found so everything's okay now."

"Come on man, you know I don't think its Jeff."

They stared at each other for a moment. Joey suddenly felt uneasy as Joe's eyes bore into him. Finally Joe looked away and walked over to his bed to start putting his shoes on.

"You're starting to sound as bad as Lauren with your theories."

Joe watched Joey as he paced around the room for a moment as he tried to find something to say. It annoyed him that he had come in with all these thoughts and conspiracies as to why it wasn't Jeff. Couldn't they just accept it was Jeff and left their friends rest in peace? If Jeff was charged with the murders, the case would be over and the bodies of their friends would finally be released.

"Well come on! It doesn't add up that Jeff is the killer!"

He slowly finished tying up his shoelaces before standing up and moving over to Joey. Joe sensed Joey step back slightly and they stared at each other.

"Joey. June, Nick, Chris, Nick and Denise are all dead. You can't come up with any theories against that. The way I see it is that since Jeff was arrested and the police started monitoring him there have been no more deaths. Now if that doesn't shout quality, I don't know what does."

He took a deep breath as Joey looked from him, his brown eyes downcast. It seemed Joey couldn't find an answer for that. Eventually Joey mumbled that he had to finish getting ready and left the room. Joe walked over to his closet and slowly pulled his suit jacket off the hanger.

* * *

Lauren didn't look at Julia and Jaime as they walked into the elevator. She pressed the right button and the doors slide shut behind them. Julia was almost shaking with nerves and Jaime was biting her nails and was refusing to look at Lauren. They were all in formal black dresses and Lauren pulled at the scratchy material of her sleeves.

"Lauren we shouldn't be here."

"Juls! He has a right to be there, they were his friends too."

This silenced Julia and Lauren looked away as the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. Lauren marched out and thankfully, she heard her friends following. They stopped outside of Jeff's apartment and Lauren took a breath before knocking on the door. There was a moment's silence before she heard movement from behind the door and then it opened.

"Hi Jeff."

He nodded a reply before walking back into the apartment but leaving the door open. For the first time, Lauren felt a prickle of fear run down her spine but as she turned to look at her friends, she put on a brave face and headed into the apartment. She led the girls in and they headed to the sitting room. Jeff was sat on the sofa and Lauren's breath caught as she watched him take a sip from a bottle of beer.

"Jeff it's 11 in the morning."

She watched as he merely shrugged his shoulders before staring out of the window. Lauren rooted in her bag before producing a plastic wallet of photos. They had grouped together all their photos to make the slideshow for the memorial service and these were Jeff's. She put them down on the coffee table but Jeff didn't seem to notice.

"Come on, we need to get going. The service starts at 12:30."

Jeff finally looked up at Lauren. He hadn't realised she was stood so close to him. She was one of the only people who bothered trying to talk to him anymore. Joey had come to hang out a few times since he'd been here but other than that, everyone had left him. Because they all believed he'd done. Someone had tried very hard to set him up, what with stealing his bat and using it as a murder weapon. Jeff blamed himself for Denise's death. She had been trying so hard to find him alibis and to get his name cleared that she had obviously caught the attention of the killer and they had acted accordingly.

"Jeff…"

"I'm coming."

Slowly, he stood up and put his bottle down on the coffee table before moving past the girls and out of the room. He stung him that Julia and Jaime took an automatic step back as he approached but he tried not to think of it. Jeff was already in his black suit so all he had to get from his room was his black tie. He put it on and in no time he was back in the hallway ready to leave. The girls joined him and they all headed out.

* * *

Brian held Meredith's hand as they made it to the building where they were holding the service. There were A LOT of people here who all wanted to pay their respects. It had been reported on the news so there were people here who hadn't even know the StarKids but still wanted to show that they cared. He looked down at the flowers Meredith was holding and squeezed her hand so she would look up at him.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded at him before looking down at the ground again. They had made it into the foyer of the building and Brian pulled her to the side so they weren't blocking the way into the room and looked at her.

"Are you really okay?"

He was worried about her. Meredith hadn't spoken much since Denise had died. Brian knew he couldn't begin to know what Meredith was going through. Denise had been her best friend. He looked into her eyes as she slowly looked up at him. Her big brown eyes were shimmering and in the next second Brian was pulling her into a tight hug.

"Now come on. Denise and the others wouldn't want to see you crying this much over them. We have to remember them as the happy people they were and not the tragic ways we lost them."

Meredith nodded against Brian's shoulder and sniffed loudly. She pulled away and Brian wiped away her tears. He hugged her tightly again before taking her hand and leading her into the room. The room was large, it had to be, what with so many people wanting to attend. There were fans here but the fangirling and the need for autographs had been forgotten as anyone thought over why there were here. Darren had come back and brought with him nearly all of the LA StarKids. Their friends may have been stretched out but they had all returned to attend the service. Meredith let Brian lead her to the front of the room to where their friends were. Rows of chairs had been set up and at the front was a stage with a projector and the enlarged photos of their friends set up on it. They reached the front and Brian sat down. Meredith pulled away and slowly looked at the five pictures before putting her flowers down in front of them. A lot of other people had already done the same and she smiled slightly as a middle aged woman came up beside her and placed her own flowers down.

The service passed in a blur. There were speeches and singing. The song Lauren chose 'Funeral Song' was played. There were so many memories. And then the slideshow started. Jaime smiled at some of the photos as she remembered what had been happening when they had been taken. There were so many photos so the slideshow was long but they had so many memories. They had asked far and wide for photos and the return had been amazing. It had taken her, Julia and Lauren hours to make the slideshow and it really was a beautiful thing. The photo of her and Denise in their HMB costumes that had been taken backstage came up and Jaime felt a hand slip into hers. It was Lauren, Jaime realised that all her friends were now holding hands so her slipped her free one into Joey's hand who was sat on her other side. Jaime listened to the music that was playing alongside the slideshow. They had searched all over YouTube for music they could use, the song playing at the moment was 'Now We Are Free', you wouldn't think a song that was used in the film Gladiator would suit a memorial service but it was a beautiful song.

Finally the slideshow had ended and everyone was line up to place a white rose in front of the photos. So many people had already placed bunches of flowers but with the roses everyone got their own, little moment. Jaime smiled at this idea as she reached the front of the line and carefully placed her rose down. She looked at the five photos and nodded at each of them before slowly walking away.

The killer twirled his rose in his hands and he moved up the line. He watched Jaime as she turned and walked back to her seat, right behind her was Lauren and he saw her take her moment of looking at each photo before placing her rose down. Lauren caught his eye and they shared a quick smile before she sat down. The killer took a step forward as the line moved forward. He still couldn't quite believe they had done it; they had gotten away with it. Everyone blamed Jeff, oh how wrong they were. They didn't even know there was more than one killer, well he got the feeling that that Katie knew and Lauren had been spending so much time in the morgue that he guessed she knew too. But it wasn't common knowledge as there was barely any evidence to support it.

They really had hatched the perfect plan…the three of them. He was near the front of the line now so looked at the pictures. This was where a multi-killer plot thickened because although there were five victims in this murder case, he only had the blood of one person on his hands, June. His two accomplices did most of the heavy lifting with both having two murders to their names. They had vowed to stop after Denise because as the number of people still alive dropped it meant it would be easier and easier to spot the murderers but it was proving rather hard. There really was something about killing. The thrill it gave you was like nothing he had ever experienced. It changed you and soon, you didn't need a motive to kill, you killed because you wanted to. Finally he reached the front of the line and placed his rose down. The killer acted the part and did a solemn nod to each photo before turning away. As he heard back to his seat, he caught the eyes of one of the other killers. The man nodded at him before shifting his eyes. He followed the moment and spotted Jeff near the back of the line.

They had spent so long trying to make everyone believe it was Jeff and that had almost succeeded. But they were hungry for blood again and what better way to shake up the investigation than to kill the one and only suspect?

"What is he doing here?"

It seemed Meredith had finally noticed Jeff and was having to almost be restrained by Brian as she tried to stand up.

"I invited him."

He watched as Meredith turned to Lauren and glared at her. The two girls shared a few coarse words about if he had a right to be there before Julia rolled her eyes and stepped in to remind them where they were. The killer sat down and watched as more and more people placed their roses down until finally it was Jeff's turn.

Jeff slowly brought his eyes up to Denise's photo. It was a headshot, all the photos were. He gazed into her sparkling blue eyes that were crinkled up into a smile. He could hear people whispering behind him and knew it was probably about him but he didn't care. Slowly, he placed his rose down right in front of her photo before looking up at it again.

"I'm sorry."

He didn't know what else to say because what else could he say? He'd lost her and what was worse everyone thought he had killed her. They thought he had killed all of them. Denise was gone and he had never felt more alone. Jeff would fight for his freedom and clear his name, for her. He would clear his name for all of them and find who did this because then they would finally be able to rest in peace, knowing that their rightful killer was behind bars. As soon as he had thought this, Jeff turned around and strode out of the room.

* * *

_A/N: Until next time!_

_Bye!_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: New chapter! I feel this is more of a filler chapter but it's still good :')_

_Coolest Girl: Aww thank you!_

_Vuraangreg: I know! And yeah :') and hmm…you'll have to wait and see…_

_starkidllamas-llama: Thanks :') and ooo hehe I wonder if they are right…_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Haha FEELS!_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Well I hope that's good!_

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: I'm sorry!_

_PotterFanatic: Haha and so you'd think…_

_Hogwarts2312: Yeah :'(_

_dance-sing-live: Feel explosion!_

_sami-sam99: Yep :'(_

_The Author42: Yep and oo..hehe and no Darren hasn't been fully in it yet_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Hehe and hmm you're the first person to mention Dylan haha XD and yes you will…_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: I'm sorry! But at least we know it's not Jeff now!_

_TearsOfaClown: Yep! And aww :'( and I know!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Yes! And haha XD yeah Corey is shifty XD_

_Guest: Yay! Glad you like it! And I know I could just so imagine it in my head :')_

_make-love-happen: Yep but at least he'll kinda be at peace and I can't tell you! :')_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Jaime unlocked the door and held it open as all her friends filed past. All of them were holding piles of flowers and the floral smell was strong in the air. Lauren brought up the rear with the five photos under her arm and a laptop bag over her shoulder. She made it through and Jaime closed the door behind them. She walked into the sitting room and looked around. Everyone had found a place to stand or sit and there were flowers everywhere. What were they possibly going to do with these flowers? But the thought that so many people cared did warm her heart.

"What should we do now?"

"Why don't we watch HMB?"

She turned like everyone else as Lauren spoke. It seemed to shock her slightly that everyone was now looking at her as she quickly looked down. However watching that musical did sound like a great idea. It had been so much fun and four of the five they'd lost were in it and they would get to see June's amazing costumes. In no time everyone had agreed and they were all gathering around Lauren's laptop.

Julia smiled as the opening credits rolled; at least they had the musicals to remember their friends by. She looked around the room and looked at all her friends. It felt like they were all back in college again, except now they were all dressed in black and smiling weakly as their friends appeared on the screen. There were no stupid jokes or messing about…people laughed at the jokes but Julia could tell they weren't real laughs. Even so it was so nice to rewatch the show and remember all the amazing memories they had from it.

"Do we still have all the costumes in storage?"

"Of course."

"Maybe we should mail their costumes to their families, it might be nice for them to have them."

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the group before they all slowly fell silent again. It was a nice thought but Julia could hear some people were hesitant as doing stuff like that meant they had to accept that they were gone and weren't coming back. Julia drew her feet up onto the sofa and sighed.

Darren glanced round as he heard Julia sigh. It felt so surreal to be here. He'd heard about everything that had happened from his friends and off the news but as he hadn't been here, it didn't seem real. How could his friends be gone? He'd worked with these people and had fun with them. The police thought it was Jeff but Darren didn't know if he believed that. There was someone truly cold hearted residing in Chicago and he got the feeling that they knew them well. He blinked as he sensed people moving around him, the musical was over already. He knew people hadn't been fully watching it, too many had been deep in their own thoughts like he had.

"Does anyone want a drink?"

He looked round as Lauren spoke. People were slowly agreeing that they did so she took a drink order. Darren stood up as she was about to leave the room.

"I'll help you Lo."

He followed her into the kitchen and they set about making teas and coffees and pouring out drinks. Darren watched Lauren for a few moments as he realised she had stopped and was simply staring out of the window.

"Are you okay?"

Lauren jumped as Darren spoke. She had been in a world of her own. Watching the musical had been nice but it had truly brought it home that the only way they would ever hear their friends' voices again would be recordings like that. It was like they had ceased to exist…because they had.

"They're just…gone."

She slowly turned to look at Darren and found he was blurred as her eyes filled with tears. There had been so much death, it was like a plaque sweeping through the group. Lauren walked forward and hugged Darren. He hugged her back and they stood in silence before Lauren finally pulled away and wiped away her tears.

"I'm sorry, I just can't believe that we won't see them again."

"We won't, that's true but the people we love will always live on in our hearts."

She couldn't help but smile at this. Darren did have a way to make you feel better. He smiled at her and ruffled her hair before picking up some of the drinks and walking out of the room. Lauren took a breath and looked at herself in the mirror. She'd already lost all her mascara at the service but her eyes were puffy again. But for once she didn't care. After a moment she picked up more cups and went to hand them out to her friends.

* * *

Time had passed and everyone was slowly leaving the apartment. The killer stopped by Jaime and smiled at her.

"You girls did a good job today."

He was being truthful. Today had been a day of remembrance and they had done their friends proud. Jaime smiled back before stepping forward and hugging him. It sometimes struck him as strange that none of them had ever suspected them. Their names had never come up, well that was because they all thought it was Jeff but still none of them had had any suspicions about them. He bid goodbye the Jaime and headed out of the apartment. There was a lot to do if they wanted tonight to run smoothly.

He called the elevator and got in. Just as he had pressed the button for the ground floor and the doors were sliding shut, he saw Meredith running towards the elevator. The killer stopped the lift and Meredith clambered in.

"Thanks!"

He smiled at her and looked straight ahead as the doors slid shut. The cheesy elevator music filled the silence and he glanced at Meredith every so often.

"So what do you think about Jeff being there today?"

"I understand why Lauren thought to invite him but I still think it was the wrong thing to do."

The killer nodded at this. Meredith was their main source was stoking the 'blame Jeff' fire. So they had often fired her up over the past couple of weeks. The two spoke a while more and then headed out to street level.

"Well I'll see you later then!"

He waved goodbye to Meredith before heading in the opposite direction.

* * *

Jeff opened another bottle and took a long sip. He turned on the TV and turned it up loud. He wasn't really listening to it but the noise drowned out his thoughts. Where was he supposed to start on clearing his name? Denise would have known what to do but she was gone. So he'd have to work alone. But he could do this! Jeff turned on his laptop and drummed his fingers as it started up. He looked up as there was a knock on the door.

He stopped. Who would be knocking at this time? Jeff hadn't been expecting anyone so he slowly stood up and listened intently. A moment later there was another knock on the door. He headed out into the hallway and slowly up to the door.

"Whose there?"

There was no answer but he could hear noise from the other side. Jeff waited a moment before unlocking the door and opening it. In seconds the two hooded killers had forced their way into the apartment and had pushed Jeff against the wall. One of them held him against it by pushing his arm against his neck. Jeff watched as the other slowly closed the door and locked it.

"There are two of you…well I wasn't expecting that."

"Actually, there's three but we prefer to take it in turns, you're less detectable that way."

Jeff's eyes widened at this. Who were these people? However as if they had read his mind, one of them slowly pulled down his hood and his blood ran cold. It was his friend. The other pulled down his hood and Jeff saw he was a friend too.

"Come on Jeff, I think we all know what's coming."

He struggled as the killer dragged him into the sitting room. Jeff knew he was about to die but was it really such a bad thing? Everyone already thought he was the killer anyway, what else did he have? The killer that was dragging him forced him to his knees in the middle of the sitting room so that he was facing the other killer. For some reason, Jeff didn't fight back…maybe this was what he wanted.

"Come on Jeff, Denise fought back more than this."

The voice came from the one restraining him and it made Jeff's heart skip a beat. He had killed Denise? He had been the one to do it? Jeff's vision suddenly seemed to turn red and he fought with all his might. However the hold his 'friend' had on him was too strong and then he fell still as the other who was facing him pulled out a gun. He picked up a cushion and held it next to Jeff's head before pointing the gun at it.

"Well it's been nice knowing you Jeff."

Time seemed to slow down. It could only have been a few seconds but it felt like forever. At least everyone would now know he wasn't the killer. Jeff didn't know what he believed about the 'after-life', he wondered if he'd find his friends that were already gone. He'd finally be free of all this and wouldn't feel so empty…he wouldn't feel anything. Jeff took a deep breath as he heard the click of the gun…and then everything went black…

The killer let go of Jeff and his body slumped to the ground. He looked up at his accomplice and held his breath as he watched him pin a note to Jeff's shirt. They shared a look before slowly leaving the room. This was only just beginning because now the police had lost their one and only suspect and the StarKids would know that they weren't out of the woods yet.

* * *

_A/N: Oooo :o_

_BYE!_


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Hello again! I hope you are all continuing to like it! :D_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Yeah that is a nice thought._

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: I'm sorry! Here have a cookie!_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: Aww :') and gosh can you imagine Meredith just dying in the elevator o_O and well the killer is picking a random so their names just might not have come up yet..._

_Coolest Girl: I know! :'(_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: I'm sorry! And yay for suspense! :') and haha cool_

_PotterFanatic: Wait and see! :') and yeah she would and yes one part was right! Heheh and it could be anyone and everyone! (maybe even June o_O haha XD)_

_1katiemariee: Twitter has been fun with you today XD and keep guessing! :D_

_The Author42: Yeah :') and I know!_

_TearsOfaClown: I know! But at least his friends know it wasn't him now!_

_starkidllamas-llama: I know! And you'll find out soon!_

_sami-sam99: Haha well maybe that's what they want! And thanks! :D_

_TotallyAwesome2727: :o but would he kill his own brother?_

_make-love-happen: Yep they know them well..._

_Dapper Dino: Right who is Tyler the fish? XD and aww thank you! I love you! :')_

_Guest: Yes! And no one knows! :o haha_

_Vuraangreg: Yeah :') and oo why Brant? And haha! XD_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Hehe it could be anyone!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Lauren carefully walked down the hallway and looked around as she heard the others following. She closed her eyes as she past the sitting room. There was police tape over the doorway again and she could hear the forensic people inside cleaning up. She led her friends through to the kitchen and looked around. Jeff was dead. And now everyone had to believe he wasn't the killer.

"What are we looking for?"

She didn't speak for a few moments as she looked around the room. Lauren didn't know why she had dragged everyone here. What were they looking for? Joe took her hand and she looked up at him.

"Lo, the police checked, there's nothing."

"There has to be. The killer left that note on Jeff but what if Jeff left a note for us?"

Everyone slowly turned to look at her and she took a deep breath before continuing. However it was true that the killer or killers had left a note. The police had shown it to them this morning and after seeing it Lauren had known she'd had to come to apartment. The note had been found pinned to him and covered in his blood but it had been easy enough to read. It had been a typical note left by a killer and true to form was made up of letters cut from different newspapers and magazines. And it had simply said 'Guess you were wrong to accuse little Jeffy...' Even though Lauren had never suspected Jeff it had still sent a shiver down her spine. But how could he have possibly been the killer? It just hadn't felt right that it had been him...in fact Lauren couldn't see any of her fellow StarKids as killers.

"The killers might have told Jeff something and he might have had time to write something down."

Julia jumped as suddenly Lauren pulled out the chairs from the table and dove underneath it. They all crowded in as they saw her come back up with something in her hands.

"What's that?"

"It's a Batman comic."

She craned her neck to see as Lauren placed it on the table. It was already open on a page. The double page seemed to be a fight between Batman and the Scarecrow. Julia sighed, well this seemed like nothing important.

"I guess it just ended up on the floor and Jeff didn't notice it."

Everyone nodded and moved away from the table. She watched as Lauren started frantically flicking through the comic and then sighed angrily. There was nothing left for them from Jeff. He had been murdered and that was that. Julia sat down and fiddled with her jacket.

Jaime looked around the room and her eyes landed on a photo frame. It was a picture of Denise and Jeff. She felt a lump in her throat as she walked over to it and picked it up. After Denise's death they had all seemed to have forgotten that Jeff had lost the woman he loved, well everyone except for Lauren. None of them had been there for him, they had just accused him...and now he was dead too.

"What do you think happens?"

She wasn't speaking to anyone in particular. Jeff and Denise looked so happy in the photo. Jaime remembered it being taken; it had been at the wrap party for Airport for Birds. Jeff had his arms around Denise and they were both beaming into the camera. Both of them were nothing more than photos and memories now.

"What do you think happens when?"

"When you die?"

Finally she looked up and found everyone staring at her. Jaime looked at all of her friends before looking down at the photo again.

"Do you think they're together?"

"Whatever you want to believe Jaime."

Joe looped his arms around Lauren's waist as he spoke. He would go along anything with anything if it made it easier for them to accept what was happening. He felt Lauren snuggle into him and he kissed her gently on the head. Their group meetings seemed so quiet now because there seemed to be so few of them. They'd only lost six but those six personalities had left such a massive hole in their group.

"It would be nice to think they found each other, where ever they are."

"I like to think they are all together, the six of them."

Everyone agreed with this and Joe watched as people smiled slightly as they obviously remembered memories. The killer had struck again meaning they weren't safe anymore but as they all stood here, in Jeff's kitchen, he felt so connected to all of his friends. Right now they weren't running and hiding, they were just here, remembering their friends.

Meredith walked over to Jaime and took the photo. She felt a little lost without her best friend. They'd always done everything together. Denise had always been at the other end of the phone when she needed to talk, she had been there to make Meredith laugh when she felt down and now that was all gone. She looked at the counter and saw another photo of Jeff with Nick Strauss and Chris. They were all gone; five times they had had to help clear out the belongings of their friends from their apartments and once the forensics people were done they'd have to help with Jeff's. She looked up as she felt Jaime's hand on her arm.

"We should probably get going."

She nodded but didn't move for a moment. Jaime had moved away to return the others but Meredith stayed gazing at the photo. The others were all slowly filing out back into the hallway but Meredith wanted to stay a moment.

"We'll find them Deeds. Don't you worry."

After a moment she sighed and put the photo down. However as she turned to leave Meredith stopped. The air had suddenly filled with a very familiar smell. Meredith would know it anywhere, it was the perfume Denise had always worn.

"Guys can you smell that?"

"Smell what?"

The others had all reappeared in the doorway and were staring at her. Meredith quickly realised they couldn't smell it but she could still smell it. The smell was wrapped around her like a blanket.

"It's Denise's perfume, I can smell it."

Meredith sighed and shook her head whilst smiling. The smell had faded as fast as it had appeared. Maybe she was simply imagining it but it had felt like Denise was here in the room with them. Brian came over to her and sniffed the air.

"I can't smell anything."

"It's gone now but it was her."

Brian took her hand and led her back to the others. He didn't know if he believed Meredith or not but he would never say anything against her. They had to get all the out of town StarKids to the airport. They had offered to stay after the terrible news they'd gotten this morning about Jeff but they had convinced them to go back. It wasn't safe for them here so they'd be better out of the city. At least they could leave, the Chicago StarKids would have to sit it out and hope for the best. It haunted Brian that the killer could be one of them...they could be in this very room with them all right now. He pushed the thought from his mind and led the way out of the apartment.

They waved their friends off and soon he and Meredith were back in their apartment. Meredith hadn't spoken much since she'd had the smelling incident. More than once he had looked at her and found her in seemingly deep concentration as if she was thinking about something big. They were watching TV and Brian had his arm around her but after a moment he sat up and yawned.

"Well I'm going to bed."

"Oh I might as well too."

He nodded and they both stood up and headed into the bedroom. They got ready for bed in silence and then in no time they were under the covers with the lights off. Meredith seemed to fall asleep instantly but Brian got the feeling she wasn't really asleep but he didn't know what to say so instead stayed quiet and soon drifted off into a troubled sleep.

* * *

Meredith sat bolt upright as she heard a loud smash. She looked down at Brian and saw the noise hadn't seemed to have woken him, should she wake him? There was no other sound in the apartment. It had sounded like smashing glass but it hadn't sounded big enough to be a window. She stayed frozen in place for a moment more before standing up and creeping out of the room. She didn't turn on any lights as she went. Meredith finally stopped in the sitting room and looked around. Smashing meant whatever had fallen had landed on a hard floor and they had a wooden floor in the sitting room. Moonlight was shining in through the undrawn curtains and it meant Meredith noticed the dark rectangle on the floor almost immediately.

She slowly walked over to it and knelt down before picking it up. Pieces of glass fell off it as she slowly turned it over. It was one of the photo frames from Denise's apartment. There were two boxes in the sitting room of stuff from her apartment but Meredith wasn't exactly sure how this had seemingly flown across the room to end up here. She carried the photo over to the light switch and turned on the light. Meredith had to squint her eyes against the sudden bright light but after a moment she was finally able to look at the photo and found it was a photo of Denise, Joe Walker and Joey. From the outfits Meredith knew it had been taken at LeakyCon the year before. All the glass had been completely smashed out of it so it had obviously been thrown with force but how had it gotten here?

"It is too late for this kind of stuff."

She muttered under her breath before standing up and placing the frame down on the coffee table. Meredith picked up all the pieces of glass she could and carried them through to the kitchen, after putting the pieces in the bin, she walked back into the sitting room. The lid of one of the boxes was open and Meredith looked at it for a moment before walking over. She had kept silly little things from Denise's apartment but they had meant a lot to Denise and some of them were the result of shared memories they'd had. She smiled as she pulled out a teddy bear that had lived on Denise's bed for years. It was a chocolate colour and had a little t-shirt on with the Michigan Wolverines 'M' on.

It was then that she smelled it again. The same smell she'd smelt in Jeff's apartment. Denise's perfume. Obviously she could just smell it now as she was looking through her things but it was so strong. Meredith suddenly felt uneasy, it was late and she was letting everything get to her head so with a yawn she put the bear back in the box and stood up. She stretched before leaving the room and heading back to bed.

The next morning Meredith slowly opened her eyes as she heard Brian shouting. It seemed he was shouting her name so with a sigh she pulled back the covers and shuffled into the sitting room.

"What?"

"Did you leave that on the sofa?"

She looked where he was pointing and saw Denise's bear was sat on the sofa. But she had left it in the box. Surely Brian was just trying to scare her so she rolled her eyes before walking into the kitchen. Meredith was not in the mood for stupid jokes. However it was strange, why would he have put it there? She looked around as Brian came into the room.

"Mere I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called you in."

"Why did you move it?"

"What? I didn't."

She slowly put down the box of cereal she had been holding and looked at Brian. He seemed so sure that he hadn't put the bear there. Meredith stared at him for a moment before walking past him and back into the sitting room. The bear was still on the sofa; she picked it up and held it for a moment. She smiled at it for a moment before sitting down and picking up the photo frame too. Brian came in and sat next to her.

"You know sometimes it feels like she's still here."

"What?"

"It's like I can sense her. Take this bear being on the sofa and I found this photo frame on the floor last night."

Brian stared at Meredith for a few moments. It pained him that she obviously wasn't coping well with everything. He looped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the head. She turned and smiled at him and pecked him on the lips before gazing back at the photo frame and bear. He heard her sigh and she snuggled back into him. Who knows how long they sat like that but Brian would have been happy to stay like that forever.

* * *

_A/N: Yeah so this was kind of a quiet chapter but I just thought we all needed a cool down XD_

_BYE!_


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Hello again! :') Hope you like it!_

_PotterFanatic: Aww I'm sorry Izzy! Huggles!_

_Coolest Girl: Yeah hehe :')_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Hehe the plot thickens!_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Maybe! Or is it just Meredith…_

_dance-sing-live: Aww! Baby you're not alone! Coz you're here with me! Hehe and yeah! The killers could have gone with them!_

_The Author42: Yes…curious…very curious…_

_KillingPeopleJustMakesThemDe ad: Yes! But what?! And yay!_

_StarkidPD: Well I wanted creepy! :D And ooo maybe…_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: Haha XD and hmmm interesting…and I'm sorry!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Haha :') and ooo yeah…hiding in the shadows…_

_AllThatIWant: I'm sorry!_

_starkidllamas-llama: Hehe and maybe…_

_sami-sam99: She is! :D_

_Vuraangreg: Ahh cool! Those are good theories :') and we all go a little crazy sometimes…_

_pottermore2917: Haha cool but is everyone always being truthful with their thoughts…and ha ha ha…_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Brian smiled at Meredith as he came back into the bedroom and found Meredith was still in bed. At least she was actually awake now and was leant against the headboard whilst reading her book. He walked over and sat down on the bed next to her.

"You're not going to make it out of your pyjamas today are you?"

"I won't count on it."

He laughed and ruffled her hair. Meredith beamed at him before looking back at her book and sighing happily. Brian watched her for a moment before regretfully standing up and slowly walking out of the room. Work was calling and he had to get a move on if he didn't want to be late so he picked up his speed and headed out of the apartment.

Meredith heard the front door shut and put her book down for a moment. For some reason she didn't like being in the apartment on her own anymore. Not just because Denise and Jeff had been alone in an apartment when the killer had come but because something felt different. She didn't believe in ghosts, well she thought she didn't but weird things kept happening. Maybe she was just being paranoid but things had been getting creepy. Lauren and Jaime had commented about things too so at least Meredith knew she wasn't alone but there were times where she did think she was going crazy. She listened to the silence for a moment before pulling back the covers and standing up.

She walked into the kitchen and started making herself a drink. After a moment she turned on the radio and danced to the song. She'd actually never heard the song before and its lyrics were poor but it filled the silence and dancing kept her mind off things. Finally her drink was ready and she carried it towards the sitting room. However she was still out in the hallway when she stopped. There had been the unmistakable sound of a creak coming from the sitting room. Meredith slowly edged towards the door; ready to throw her scalding hot coffee on any would be intruders and pushed open the door.

The room was empty. Meredith took a deep sigh and closed her eyes. Wood creaked, it breathed so creaks were normal. With a deep breath she sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV. She absentmindedly watched it for a few moments before glancing over at the boxes of Denise's things. She gazed at them for a few moments before slowly standing up and walking over to them. Meredith knew she should probably sort through them but she liked being able to just look through them when she wanted to. She sat down and pulled out the thing which was on top. It was a photo album. Denise had always loved developing her pictures and putting them in frames or albums.

Meredith smiled as she looked at all the pictures. She remembered a lot of them being taken. Finally she made it to a page and stopped. The pictures on this page were of Denise, Lauren, Julia, Jaime and herself but that wasn't what had made her stop. There were four pictures in the sleeves and on all of them Denise had been crossed out with a red cross. However even this wasn't what made Meredith's blood run cold, what caused that was the fact that Julia and Lauren had also been crossed out. The album dropped from Meredith's hands and she barely heard it crash onto the floor. Could they be next? Could the killer be going after them? Meredith slowly shook her head and in the next second she had scrambled to her feet and was rushing to pick up her phone. She dialled a number and hurriedly put the phone to her ear.

"Hello? Mere are you okay?"

"Hi Lo, I'm fine. Where are you?"

Lauren frowned slightly and sat up before answering. Meredith sounded so panicked and it made Lauren feel uneasy. There was silence between them for a few moments before she finally took a breath to speak.

"I'm at home…why?"

"Just, stay inside and lock the door. I just have this feeling that the killer's going to strike again."

She was suddenly on her feet and clutching the phone to her ear. Meredith sounded so serious and Lauren was starting to panic. She was home alone, Julia and Jaime were both at work. Still holding the phone to her ear she ran to the front door and locked it but leaning against it.

"How do you know?"

There was a silence on the other end of the line. The police had no leads at all as to who the killer could be. They had offered to move the StarKids into police protection but Lauren had felt that was a bad idea. Although it horrified her, she got the feeling that the killers were StarKids. It made sense as they were all actors and what did actors do? They acted. The killers could be hiding themselves within the group and no one would suspect them.

"I don't know. Just…stay safe okay?"

Meredith couldn't bring herself to tell Lauren about the pictures. She was terrified and she didn't want to put that onto Lauren. Lauren promised she'd stay safe and they ended the call. Meredith sat hunched over on the floor for a few moments and tried to catch her breath. Lauren and Julia would be okay, nothing was going to happen to them. They were going to catch this killer and them they would all be okay and everything would be back to the way it was. However it was then that Meredith heard the soft click of the front door opening. Brian hadn't locked the door when he'd left…

The hooded figure slowly pushed open the door and walked into the apartment. There was almost a deathly silence and it hung in the air like a fog. He listened for Meredith but there was nothing…she was hiding… Slowly, he made his way towards the closed sitting room door and pushed it open. The killer looked around the room but it was empty. However her still warm cup of coffee was on the coffee table and there was an open album on the floor. He walked over to it and looked down. The faces that were crossed out sparked something inside of him but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. However he dropped the album as he heard a crash from somewhere in the apartment.

Meredith squeezed her eyes shut as her foot caught on a frying pan that was hanging on the side of the cabinet in the kitchen. The pan hit against the other pans and the bang sounded so loud in the silence. She had made it into the kitchen whilst the killer had been looking at the album. She could hear footsteps as the killer slowly came into the kitchen. Meredith was trapped in the room and could only crawl around the island counters as the killer came in. She crawled round the entire thing and stopped to peep around the killer. However he wasn't there.

"Gottcha!"

She screamed as a hand suddenly grabbed her shirt and pulled her to her feet. The killer pulled her arm tight behind her back and she cried out as there was a loud, sickening crack. Her eyes blurred with tears and she struggled against the killer. She couldn't let this happen…she had promised Denise she would see the killer brought to justice and she couldn't do that if she was dead too. She kicked her leg back in the hopes it would connect with something…and it did. The killer let go of her and groaned. Meredith fell back to the ground and hit her head of the counter. The pain was horrific but she HAD to get away. She could feel blood running down her face but she didn't stop to think about it as she pulled herself away.

Meredith dragged herself through to the sitting room before collapsing onto floor. She was in so much pain. Her arm was surely broken and the cut on her head was bleeding badly. This was it. She looked up as slowly the killer walked into the room. In some half-hearted attempt to save herself, she tried pulling herself along but then suddenly the killer had grabbed her and was turning her onto her back. He knelt over her and there was silence for a moment.

She closed her eyes as she watched him lift a knife over his head. This was it. Would she be in pain for long? However suddenly the door banged open and she ripped her eyes open as she felt someone dragging the killer off her. It was Brian! He punched the killer and they barrelled away from her.

"Run Meredith!"

It felt like she was frozen to the spot as the killer managed to punch Brian. She locked eyes with Brian and then in the next second she was pulling herself away.

"Call the police!"

Brian watched as Meredith managed to pull herself to her feet and run from the room. He pushed the killer to the floor and kicked him. The killer groaned but was quick to stand up and punch Brian. They rolled around, meeting each other punch for punch and soon Brian was tiring but it wasn't about to give up yet.

"The police are on their way."

He had managed to get the killer into a half nelson and punched him with all his might before looking at Meredith. It seemed she was staring intently at the killer and quickly Brian realised that he had gone limp in his arms. He threw him to the floor and moved over to Meredith. He tried to take her in his arms but she started slowly walking over to the killer.

"Mere don't touch him."

"Don't you want to know who it is?"

"Yeah but we don't know if he's actually out."

He was wary of the killer. Brian was worried that he could suddenly stand up and kill them both because he might just be faking this unconsciousness. Finally Meredith came back to him and looped her arms around his neck.

"Are you okay?"

Meredith slowly turned to look at Brian and in the next second she was crying. She had almost died. They had thought the killer was Jeff but then someone had killed him and they had just almost killed her. Brian made soothing noises as he carefully led her into the bedroom and sat her down on the bed.

"Does the cut hurt?"

She looked into his eyes as Brian examined the gash on her head. It did hurt. Everything hurt. Meredith could feel her breathing increasing as her heart began to race. Suddenly Brian's arms were around her again and he was rubbing her back as she sobbed. He closed his eyes and made soothing sounds as he started to rock her back and forth.

The killer slowly pulled his head up and groaned. He wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have internal bleeding. Brian sure knew how to throw a punch. With a groan he slowly stood up, he always seemed to draw the shot straw when it came to being beaten up by the people they were trying to kill. First Denise had punched him and now Brian had beaten him within an inch of his life…stupid Brian. He dragged himself to his feet and rubbed his back. There wasn't much time before the police came so he had to get moving. He dragged his feet along and stumbled out of the apartment. The killer pulled his hood down and groaned as he felt his face. That punch was going to leave a mark…he'd have to be careful over the next couple of weeks…

* * *

_A/N: Oh my…._

_BYE!_


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: The end is nigh! We are in to the third act! :')_

_AllThatIWant: Hehe and yeah…why didn't Brian let her check…_

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: Well it's all slowly coming out :o_

_pottermore2917: No! Hehehe I'm not that mean!_

_1katiemariee: I can tell from the caps lock and the FB status…are you calm now?! XD and I'm gonna say now you will be scared…but I'm sorry it came on your birthday! Huggles!_

_The Author42: I know but they're okay!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Yes! And I know! :o_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: It's all very strange…_

_PotterFanatic: I understood some of your first review XD and yes rehab should be available XD and who said that bit was about her…I said one part…and wait and see hehehe_

_Coolest Girl: He is…_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: Ahh I'm sorry! Feels!_

_dance-sing-live: And the showdown is near…_

_RavenclawStarshipRanger: I'm sorry! It's all coming out!_

_TearsOfaClown: I know and the album… :o_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: I know! But why did Brian take her out…_

_sami-sam99: I know…curious…_

_starkidllamas-llama: Haha SO MUCH DRAMA!_

_KillingPeopleJustMakesThemDe ad: I'm sorry and the comic book was in an odd place…_

_Vuraangreg: Yeah how did he know…and yeah there's something strange…_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Lauren dashed into the ER and looked around. She had rushed straight over when she had heard about Meredith. After a few moments of dashing around she finally saw Brian up ahead.

"Brian!"

She ran towards him and came to a holt right in front of him. Brian looked down at her and smiled slightly but she could see he was tired.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah she's fine, they're about to discharge her."

She nodded and then followed Brian as he gestured in the right direction before beginning to walk. They stopped outside one of the cubicles and Brian pulled back the curtain. Lauren beamed at Meredith before running over and hugging her.

"Ow!"

She jumped back as she realised she was crushing Meredith's broken arm. Lauren sat on the edge of the bed and held Meredith's hand. After her phone call with Meredith, Lauren had hid under the covers of her bed and listened to the silence. She had screamed when her phone rang and it was then that she had found out about Meredith. It was all so strange…Meredith had seemed so worried about her as if she knew something was going to happen. It didn't seem right that Meredith had almost been killed. The feeling unnerved her and she rolled her shoulders back as a shiver went down her spine.

Not long afterwards Meredith was discharged and they all headed back to her and Brian's apartment. Meredith didn't speak much on the journey home. There was something troubling her. The killer had disappeared; he had run away whilst she and Brian had been in the bedroom. They had been so close to knowing who the killer was and he had gotten away. But as she thought back on it none of it made sense. Why had Brian come back? Why had he left the front door unlocked? She stared at Brian for a few moments, her face thoughtful. He didn't look at her so it gave her more time to simply gaze.

They finally made it back and sat in silence. Brian couldn't be in on it, he had been with her when June, Nick Lang and Jeff had died. Unless…unless there was more than one killer… She blinked and looked up as Brian suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Do you guys want a drink?"

She slowly nodded and sensed Lauren do the same. They both said what they wanted and she watched Brian leave the room. Meredith fiddled with the strap of her arm support before slowly looking up at Lauren.

"It seems too perfect doesn't it?"

"What does?"

Meredith could see the confusion on Lauren's face but she decided to press on and hope that Lauren thought the same. They sat in silence a while longer and Meredith listened to Brian move around the kitchen. Brian couldn't be the killer, she knew him and he was no killer.

"That Brian came back and saved me."

"Mere, a lot of weird stuff has been happening over the past few days. Maybe he happened to him too."

Lauren watched as Meredith slowly nodded before looking away. That strange feeling that she'd felt in the hospital was back again. It was too perfect…but Brian wasn't one of the killers. He had perfectly good alibis and no one could be that good an actor if he had been lying to them for this long. She looked around the room and stopped as she spotted the album on the floor. Lauren stood up and slowly walked over to it.

"What's this?"

"Oh it was Denise's. I was looking at it when the killer came in."

She crouched down next to it and picked it up. It was already open on a page and she turned it over to look at it properly. Lauren gasped as she saw the red crosses of her, Denise's and Julia's faces. Her stomach churned a little. There something really wasn't right about this. She was crossed out…did that mean she was going to die?

"I'm crossed out…just like Denise."

"I know, that's why I called you."

"But the killer came after you, so why aren't you crossed out?"

She watched as Meredith looked away. Why wasn't she crossed out? And were Julia and Lauren going to die? How could the police possibly have no suspects? They were just being picked off like flies and death would come for them all eventually and it seemed there was nothing they could do to stop it. Meredith sighed and carefully sat back. Should she tell Lauren of her theory that there was more than one killer?

"Erm Lo?"

"Mmm?"

Meredith looked at her for a moment to see if she'd look up but it seemed Lauren had become engrossed in the album. A few seconds later she took a deep breath to speak.

"Do you ever get the feeling there's more than one killer?"

She watched as Lauren stopped flicking the pages and slowly looked up at her. Her eyes were wide and she seemed in a state of shock.

"W-what?"

"Well there isn't person who can be blamed for every death but if there was more than one it would make more sense."

She took a deep breath as Lauren swallowed before putting down the album and slowly walking over to her. Lauren sat down next to her before bringing her eyes up to meet Meredith's.

"There is more than one. The coroner's assistant Katie says some murders were committed by a rightie and some by a leftie."

Lauren quickly explained the conversation with Katie however she was quickly cut off as Brian came back into the room with the drinks. The topic was dropped and they sat in an awkward silence but she kept glancing at Meredith who seemed to keep glancing at Brian. She got the feeling that Meredith was starting to suspect Brian but this didn't feel right to Lauren, Brian wasn't the killer but who was.

She finally checked the time and stood up. The others looked at her and she looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry, I've gotta go."

They nodded and Brian jumped up to see her out of the apartment. Lauren waved goodbye to Meredith before leaving, she said goodbye to Brian at the door and headed out of the apartment.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Joe smiled to himself as he pulled Lauren onto his knee. She rolled her eyes but Joe could see there was a smile playing about her lips.

"Joe I need to leave!"

"5 more minutes?"

He chuckled as she raised her eyebrows before pecking him on the lips, he groaned slightly as he sat back but smiled. He had to try and act natural… Joe didn't want her to leave. The streets weren't safe! The killer was still out there and it would crush him if anything happened to her. They sat in silence for a few moments and Joe played with her hair.

"So what are you doing tonight?"

"Oh we probably just gonna watch a film and have a girls' night in."

He nodded and they sat in silence for a while longer. Even though he wanted her to stay she should probably get back before it gets dark. At this time there were still more people around so there was less chance of her finding herself alone. Joe blinked and came to his senses as he realised Lauren was suddenly reaching for her phone. He saw she had a text from Jaime.

*Text from Jaime*  
Hi Lo, I'm gonna be late back tonight. We're crazy busy at work and they need me to work overtime. Xx

Lauren texted back a reply before sighing. She was worried about Jaime, if she was going to be back late she could be putting herself at risk. After a moment she looked up at Joe, his expression seemed thoughtful but as he saw she was looking, he blinked and smiled at her.

"Are you worried about her?"

She nodded and held still as Joe gently held her chin and kissed her. Lauren was worried but with Joe's arms around her she did feel safer.

"Jaime can look after herself just fine."

She smiled at him before snuggling into him. Joe traced ever increasingly smaller circles on her leg and up her thigh. Lauren slowly brought her large brown eyes up to meet his and they stared at each other for a moment before she leant forward and kissed him.

* * *

Joe sighed before looking at his bedside clock. He looked at Lauren for a moment before carefully unwrapping his arms from her and standing up. Lauren sat up slightly and stared at him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to get a drink, you want one?"

She nodded at him and said she wanted coffee. Joe nodded before walking over to his dresser and pulling out some boxers. Once they were on, he left the room.

Lauren lay back down for a moment and stared up at the ceiling. Her heart was still racing but she couldn't help but smile to herself. She gazed up at the ceiling for a few moments before slowly getting up and pulling one of Joe's shirts out of the closet and putting it on. After pulling up her hair into a ponytail she followed Joe into the kitchen.

He turned round and smiled at her as she came in. Lauren watched him stir the coffee before walking up to take it as he pulled the spoon out. She took a sip and smiled at him, he smiled back before taking her hand and leading her into the sitting room. They sat down and Joe turned on the TV.

"What time do you have to be home?"

"Erm, well seeing as Jaime will be late back, probably 8pm at the latest."

Joe nodded at this and took a sip of his coffee. He watched as Lauren did the same whilst gazing at the TV. They sat in silence but it wasn't an awkward silence. He put his arm around her shoulder and smiled to himself.

Lauren drank the last of her drink and sighed happily before snuggling into Joe. She was suddenly so sleepy but it was a nice drowsiness and she kind of didn't want it to end…not just yet. Joe played absentmindedly with a piece of her hair and try as she might she just couldn't keep her eyes open.

"Lauren?"

"5 more minutes mom…"

The drowsiness was swirling in her mind like a thick fog and it was so much easier to give into it and let her mind drift off into unconsciousness.

Joe shook his head with a smile before carefully picking Lauren up and carrying her through to the bedroom.

* * *

Jaime said goodbye to the few work colleagues she had walked this far with before turning and walking down the darkened street at a brisk pace. There was an eerie silence in the street meaning she almost jumped out of her skin when there was a sudden crash from an alley followed by the yowling of cat. She tried to compose herself and walked even faster. It was then that she heard the whisper.

"Jaime."

She stopped and looked around. That had defiantly sounded like her name but surely she must be hearing things. After a moment Jaime shook her head and started walking again. She had gone perhaps a few steps when she heard it again.

"Jaaaaiiiiimmmmmeeeeee."

"If this is some kind of stupid joke it's not funny!"

She glared around the street but her eyes found no one. However she could now hear laughter. It was cold and unforgiving and it sent a shiver down her spine. She had to get out of her...now. Although she could now hear something else in the street. A high pitched metal squeak.

"You know a pretty girl like yourself shouldn't be out alone at this time of night. Not when there's a serial killer on the loose."

Across the street a homeless person had appeared. The squeak came from the shopping cart he was pushing. Jaime watched him as he drew level with her and stopped. In the darkness, she couldn't fully make out his expression but she could see the slight glint of his yellow teeth.

"I can look after myself just fine."

"That's what they all say...until they get killed."

Her breathing stuttered as he said this. The homeless man smiled before slowly carrying on down the street.

"Jaime!"

The man had stopped and slowly turned round to look at her again. It seemed he had heard the shout too. She watched as he gazed around the street before looking at her again.

"You better start running girl, it looks like you're his next target."

Jaime was running before the man had even finished speaking. She was sure she had never run faster in her life. Where she was going, she didn't know but what she did know was she HAD to get away from here. She barrelled around the corner of the street and screamed as she crashed into something that held onto her arms. Surely this was the end, she was going to die.

"Woah woah Jaime! It's me, Brian!"

Brian held Jaime steady as she stopped screaming and stared at him. Her whole body was shaking and her blue eyes were wide and staring. He watched as she stared back around the corner before looking back at him.

"Are you alright?"

"No! Brian the killer's here!"

His eyes widened and he let go of her arms to look around the corner himself. However when he looked back around he found Jaime had moved away from him, her face distrusting.

"Brian what are you doing here?"

"I was getting milk, we ran out."

He held up the carton of milk in his hand and smiled. This seemed to relax Jaime and she finally smiled back. Brian looked around the empty street, his ears on high alert.

"Do you wanna come back to my apartment? You shouldn't be out on the streets alone and besides I'm sure it would make Meredith happy."

Jaime thought over this. It would be nice to see Meredith, she hadn't seen her since she'd been attacked yesterday so she owed her a visit. She nodded at Brian and returned his smile before they started walking.

They made it into the apartment and Jaime almost ran to where she could hear Meredith shouting hello from the sitting room. Meredith jumped up and shrieked with laughter as they hugged. She knew it had been the right thing to come and see Meredith.

She smiled as Meredith pulled her down onto the sofa and started telling her about all the song ideas she'd had for Jim and the Povolos. Jaime listened with a smile on her face and glanced over at Brian to see he was smiling too.

With Lauren asleep in Joe's apartment and Jaime at Brian and Meredith's all this meant that Julia was all alone in their shared apartment and that could only mean one thing…

* * *

_A/N: Lalalalalalalala *runs away*_

_BYE!_


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Super long explosive chapter! :o_

_PotterFanatic: ARGH!_

_AllThatIWant: Hehe thanks! And you'll find out now!_

_Tstimetobegin: Erm…_

_1katiemariee: Yeah you're gonna have a freakout at this…_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Erm…it's just a story! I'm sorry! :'(_

_make-love-happen: :'( and he is acting weird!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Argh! NOO!_

_sami-sam99: Yeah :'(_

_StarkidPD: That's what I aimed for! And argh! But thank you!_

_The Author42: Yeah…_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: I'm actually terrified…_

_Guest: Sorry!_

_dance-sing-live: Yeah! And constant worry!_

_KillingPeopleJustMakesThemDe ad: It's all coming out! And yay!_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Yeah hehe I'm quite proud of that bit :') and yeah they're safe…_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Erm…_

_starkidllamas-llama: Maybe he did! And more cliffhangers!_

_StarkidBecca: Oh my gawd…_

_Vuraangreg: Yeah :'( and suspect everyone!_

_Okay so after this chapter I will be moving to the Artic XD_

_This chapter contains scenes which some readers may find upsetting._

_Enjoy as we begin the final showdown…_

* * *

Julia looked around for a moment before sighing and standing up. She carried her empty plate over to the sink and started cleaning it. Jaime had text to say she had stopped off to see Meredith on the way home and Lauren had apparently fallen asleep in Joe's apartment so would probably be spending the night there. Joe hadn't gone into too much detail. Once her plate was clean she put it back in the cupboard and walked into the sitting room. She turned on the TV and curled up on the sofa. There wasn't much on but she settled for some trashy reality TV show and rested her head on her hand as she stared at the TV.

A few hours or so had passed and Julia was still watching TV. At least Jaime was almost home. She'd received a text that she should be back in half an hour and that had been 20 minutes ago. Julia felt uneasy, she didn't know why but it felt like something bad was going to happen…something very bad. She muted the TV as suddenly she thought she heard a noise, Julia strained her ears to hear but there was nothing. With a shake of her head she unmuted the TV but then there was a knock at the door. Could that be Jaime already? It probably was, she always forgot her key. She smiled and shook her head before getting up and walking through to the front door.

"Jaime? Don't say you've forgotten your key again?"

There was silence from the other side of the door. Julia's smile fell as she slowly came to a stop. You could hear voices, the apartments weren't soundproofed. Jaime should be able to hear her. So why wasn't she answering. A shiver went down Julia's spine. She crept forward and looked through peephole…there was no one there. Was she hearing things? She shook her head and moved away but then there was another knock. This time Julia opened the door and had only opened it an inch when a hand appeared. She tried to close it again but the killer was too strong and a moment later she was flung to the floor as he forced it open.

She scrambled across the floor as the killer closed the door behind him. Why hadn't she just called the police instead of opening the door? The killer watched her for a few moments and seemed to be waiting for her to make the next moment. So a second later, Julia had scrambled to her feet and dashed from the hallway, she heard the killer laugh before chasing after her. That laugh was familiar. She'd heard it so often before but where? Where? Julia dashed into the sitting room and slammed the door behind her. Where was Jaime? She pressed her back against the door and listened to the footsteps of the killer. Julia looked to the coffee table where her phone was, she couldn't risk moving away from the door to get it. Her eyes scanned the room for anything she could use as a weapon but her search came up blank. There was nothing.

"Knock, knock."

Julia jumped and screamed as the killer spoke from right behind the door. Her hand grabbed at the handle as he slowly tried turning it. Suddenly there was complete silence…she pressed her ear against the door but couldn't hear anything. However in the next second the killer was pushing all his weight against the door and Julia couldn't hold the door and suddenly she had let go all together and scrambled over the sofa and hid on the other side.

The killer looked around the empty room. She had to be in here. There was only one door into this room. But where was she? The TV was on so he couldn't hear any little movements but suddenly he heard an intake of breath. He headed towards it and found her curled up behind the sofa. Her large eyes stared up at him and he could see from here that she was shaking. It was like she knew and what's the point in fighting when you know it won't do any good? He followed her eyes as they darted to her phone.

"I don't think so."

Keeping his eyes on Julia he edged back to the coffee table and picked up her phone. Julia screamed as he threw it across the room and it smashed against the wall. Quick as a flash he marched back to Julia and pulled her to her feet. She thrashed against him but he got a tight hold of her and threw her onto the sofa. He quickly pulled out the knife from his pocket and as she saw this she fell still and whimpered.

"Please."

He slowly moved towards her and stopped right by her. She tried to pull away but he held her arm fast. They stared at each other and he watched as a tear fell down Julia's face.

"Death comes to us all Julia."

Julia's breath caught as he finally spoke. She knew that voice…it was…it was…She never got to finish that thought as a second later the killer plunged the knife into her chest, just below her heart. The pain was horrific but it intensified as the killer pulled out the knife and stood back up. Julia didn't scream, she didn't think she could…the only sound so could make was a whimper. A moment later the killer slowly left the room, she watched him go and then gazed around the room. Blood was pouring from her chest and she tried to put pressure on it but her arms felt so flimsy. Her vision was slowly blurring and from somewhere in the distance she heard a door slam. So the killer was gone.

She tried moving but her body felt so heavy. Julia fell back onto the sofa and looked around. Suddenly her eyes widened, Denise was stood on the other side of the coffee table. But how could she be? She was dead. Realisation suddenly hit Julia, did this mean she was going to die?

"Everything's going to be okay Julia."

That sure sounded like Denise. There were spots appearing in her vision but it seemed Denise had come closer. Did you hallucinate when you had such bad blood loss? Julia had never thought about it.

"B-but…but the…k-killer."

"The culprits will be stopped soon."

"Culprits?"

What, why was she using a plural term? However Julia couldn't think any more on it as she felt her body relaxing into the sofa and she breathed out a last, final breath.

* * *

**The Next Day**

Lauren slowly opened her eyes and looked around. It felt like there was a thick fog swirling around her head. She tried to sit up but her body felt so heavy. Finally she managed to sit up and rubbed her eyes. She looked around again and stopped, she was in Joe's bedroom. Light was streaming in through the curtains so it was obviously the next morning. Her eyes widened, she was meant to have gone home last night! Lauren slowly pulled back the bed sheets and stood up. She swayed slightly and held her head. She had such a bad headache. What had happened last night? The last thing she remembered was sitting on the sofa with Joe and drinking coffee.

"Joe?"

There was no answer so she dragged her feet and stumbled out into the hallway. Lauren could hear the sound of the TV so she headed there. In the room she found Joe, he wasn't watching the TV and was instead stood at the window and gazing out of it. He slowly looked round at her as she came into the room. Lauren stared at him; his face was blank and didn't give anything away. She followed his eyes as he looked at the TV. The local news was on and she stared at it as a new report started.

"More details are coming in on the viscous homicide that occurred in an apartment in Chicago last night. It was unknown until this morning whether or not this was the 7th victim of the Chicago Ripper but upon a formal identification this morning the police have confirm that it was."

Joe slowly walked over to Lauren as she stared open mouthed at the TV. He wrapped his arms around her but she pushed him away and moved closer to the TV. His stomach was churning as he watched her. It was going to crush her. Julia was dead. Everyone else was in complete chaos and Lauren had slept through it. She had been in such a deep sleep.

"The latest victim has been confirmed as 26 year old Julia Albain."

The news report carried on and showed a picture of Julia but Joe barely heard it as he rushed forward to catch Lauren as she almost fell to the floor. She clutched at him and screamed. He rubbed her back as she cried. Joe knew he couldn't be able to comprehend what she was going through. Meredith, Jaime and all the others were distraught but Lauren had lost her best friend, her roommate. She and Julia had moved to New York together, they had always lived together.

"Lo, I'm sorry."

What else could he say? There were no words he could say. They sat like that for a while and Joe made soothing sounds but then suddenly Lauren was pulling away from him. He moved towards her but she scrambled away. Lauren's face was wet with tears and her whole body was shaking.

"Why didn't you wake me and send me home? I should have been there!"

"Lo this is not your fault. I thought it would be bad on you to wake you and Jaime ended up staying over at Brian and Meredith's, there was nothing you'd have been able to do."

Lauren slowly looked up at Joe. Jaime hadn't been there? So Julia had been alone? This caused fresh tears to fall down her face. Julia couldn't be gone, this was just a horrid dream and soon she'd wake up. However as much as she tried to will herself awake it didn't work. She wiped her tears away but more were right behind them. She felt like she'd been ripped apart and couldn't put the pieces back together. Her whole body was shaking but she slowly got to her feet.

"Lauren where are you going?"

"I'm going home!"

She wanted nothing more than to go home and curl up in her bed. Joe stood up and took her hands, she looked into his eyes but she could barely see through her tears. Lauren felt responsible but there was something else, why had she gotten so tired last night? She was suddenly untrusting of Joe as she stared at him. In the next second she had pulled her hands free of his and was storming out of the room.

"Lauren!"

"I'm going to find Jaime and Meredith."

"You can stay here."

Lauren had already made it into the bedroom and was pulling her clothes on. She didn't look at Joe as she stormed around the room. There was something wrong; she could feel it in her stomach. That coffee…Is that what had made her sleepy? Finally she brought her eyes up to meet Joe and glared at him.

"Now that I think of it, that coffee you made me last night tasted a little strange."

She watched as Joe swallowed before looking away. Could he…could he have been involved? But why? Lauren shuddered and pushed past Joe to go for her bag. Oddly, Joe didn't try and stop her and in the next minute she was pulling the apartment door shut and heading down. She sent a text to Jaime and suddenly her phone was ringing.

"Hello?"

"Lauren where have you been?"

"I've only just woken up at Joe's. Listen I don't think we can trust him. I-I know."

She closed her eyes as she heard Jaime cough out a sob on the other end of the line. Lauren was still shaking and she was close to tears herself. This couldn't be happening. Lauren was literally running on pure adrenaline right now because there was something not quite right here, she felt they were close to finding the killer. Jaime told her that the police were separating and moving them into police protection so they had a day to pack their bags. Lauren said she would be right home and hung up.

* * *

Jaime looked up from packing her bag as she heard voices in the hallway. It sounded like Lauren so she rushed out and found it was. The girls ran into each other's arms and fresh tears spilled over Jaime's eyes. The police were still all over the apartment clearing up the crime scene. They had only been allowed back into the pack their bags. Jaime was so scared, there were hardly any of them left anymore, the killer had almost wiped out the Chicago based StarKids. She clutched at Lauren for a moment before slowly pulling away. She looked into Lauren's tear filled eyes before hugging her again.

"So they're splitting us up?"

She nodded, the police believed that one of them was the killer so they couldn't trust them to be together. Jaime led Lauren back to her room and she sat down on her bed. For a few moments she carried on placing clothes into her bag before looking at Lauren.

"I should probably start packing shouldn't I?"

Lauren looked up at Jaime for a moment before looking away. She didn't want to be on her own. How long would they be kept in police protection and what even was police protection? Jaime put a few piles of clothing into her bag before sitting down next to Lauren and taking her hand.

"We're not going to die, we're going to live our lives and live them to the full for our friends."

She looked at Jaime but she was staying straight ahead. Lauren sighed and squeezed her hand.

"Yes we will."

She smiled but something felt strange, it felt like they were safe now…as if it was over. But it wasn't over, it was only just beginning.

A few hours later and Lauren was seeing out the police officers, they had given them each a panic button that sent a message straight to the police when pressed. Lauren hoped they wouldn't need them. She shut and locked the door before slowly walking back towards Jaime's room. Lauren found Jaime on her phone and she looked up at her as she came in.

"I need to go out."

"What?"

Her stomach had just done a back flip. Why would Jaime go out? They were in real danger! Jaime came up to her and looked into her eyes.

"Meredith text and says she needs help packing."

"But she had Brian."

"Well he has to pack too. Lauren you will be fine. You have your panic button and I'll be fine as I have mine."

Jaime smiled as Lauren slowly nodded at her. She hugged her before going out and grabbing her coat. She sensed Lauren follow her into the hallway and turned back as she spoke.

"Be careful."

"I will, I'll be back soon."

She waved goodbye before heading out.

* * *

Lauren flitted around the apartment. She kept her panic button in her pocket and kept checking it was there. It was too quiet in the apartment so she turned on the TV in the sitting room and the radio in the kitchen before carrying on walking around. She must have checked the front door was locked at least 10 times. Finally, she stopped in the kitchen and pulled out the panic button. Was it working properly? There wasn't really a way she could find out. She sat at the kitchen table and pulled her phone and put both that and the panic button on the table. It was then that she heard the front door, click closed.

"Jaime?"

There was a silence but she could hear footsteps. She stood up and crept towards the door but jumped back as a door shadow passed the doorway. Lauren scrambled back for the panic button but her haste, she knocked it off the table and it smashed onto the floor.

"No, no, no!"

She muttered under her breath as she knelt next to it and pressed the button…but it didn't light up like the officer said it would have. It was broken. Lauren kept on her knees and crawled out of the room. She could hear sounds coming from the sitting room so stirred clear of that and headed into her bedroom.

Lauren crawled through to her bedroom and hid under her bed. There were crashes echoing from somewhere in the apartment and they were getting closer. She held her breath and closed her eyes. This couldn't be happening, the killer was coming after her. She had been crossed off on that picture, just like Denise and Julia had. She knew she should have gone with Jaime. Her whole body was shaking. What was this killer going to do to her? He had killed her friends and now he was going to kill her.

"Come out, come out where ever you are."

Her eyes ripped open as she heard the killer's voice, it sounded so familiar. Lauren curled up into a ball and held her breath as the floorboards creaked as the killer came into her room.

"I know you're here little Lolo."

He knew her name? She clamped a hand over her mouth as two black boots appeared in her line of sight.

* * *

Jaime knocked on Meredith's door and smiled at her but this smile feel as she saw the confusion on Meredith's face.

"Jaime? What are you doing here?"

"Didn't you text me to say you need help packing?"

"No."

She slowly stepped into the apartment as Meredith stood back to let her in. Jaime walked into the apartment and stopped. Who could have possibly sent the text then? She pulled out her phone and it was still there. Slowly, she looked up as Brian appeared in the kitchen doorway. He seemed surprised too.

"Oh, hey Jaime, we weren't expecting you."

Jaime stared at him as she remembered her phone conversation with Lauren. She had said they couldn't trust Joe, but what if they couldn't trust Brian either? He could have easily sent the text from Meredith's phone.

* * *

The front door slammed shut and Lauren carefully wriggled out from under the bed. There was an eerie silence in the apartment. She crept out into the hallway and looked around. It seemed like she was alone so quickly dashed to where she had left her phone, but it was gone. No! He had taken it! She had to get out of here. Lauren ran from the kitchen and into the hallway.

"You know just because a door slams shut, doesn't mean someone's left."

Lauren spun around just as the killer grabbed her arm. She screamed and thrashed against him but he was too strong. He started dragging her through to the kitchen. Lauren didn't want to die, not like this so with a burst of almost superhuman strength, she kicked him in the crotch. He groaned and loosened his grip just enough so that she could pull away.

"Help!"

She ran to the front door and pulled it open. But there was already someone stood on the other side of the door. Lauren gasped as she realised it was Joe. Her first reaction was relief but this was quickly followed by confusion, why was he here? She looked down as she realised he had grabbed her wrists and was gently pushing her back into her apartment. No! She couldn't go back in, the killer was in there! Lauren glanced over her shoulder, the killer wasn't right behind like he had been but there was only one way in and one way out of this apartment.

"Joe the killer's in there, we need to call 911."

She stared into his eyes and it scared her how calmed he looked. He had pushed her all the way back inside and shut the door behind them. Lauren's breathing had become ragged as she stared at him. There was something very wrong about this.

"Joe?"

Joe smiled slightly at Lauren's confused expression. He looked behind her as the hooded figure appeared in the doorway. Lauren had turned around and he heard her stifle a scream as she took in the killer. He took a deep breath before he spoke the killer's name.

"Hey Dylan, sorry I'm late."

"I thought you weren't coming."

He watched as Dylan slowly pulled his hood down to reveal himself and smiled at Lauren. Lauren stared from him to Joe in absolute horror. It seemed she was realising what was actually happening. A moment later, Joe's hands tightened around her wrists as he felt her trying to pull away. She whimpered slightly as he started dragging her back towards Dylan who started walking and led the way into the kitchen. Joe stopped as Lauren started sobbing and looked into her eyes.

"Please Joe..."

"Shush…calm down Lo, it'll be over before you know it."

He wiped away her tears and held her chin as she tried to pull away. She stared back at him, her eyes full of fear.

"But Joe…I-I love you."

He smiled at her and pulled a piece of hair off her face. She tried to squirm away but he growled and gripped her chin tighter. Lauren cried out in pain and he waited a moment before finally taking a breath to speak.

"And I love you too…and just think, this way, we'll be together until the very end."

He kissed her gently and smiled as she tried to pull away. Joe finally let her pull away and had to think fast before she spat in his face.

"You sick bastard."

Joe laughed at this comment. The laugh seemed to unnerve Lauren as he saw her visibly shudder. In the next moment he got a tighter hold of her and dragged her into the kitchen. The build-up to a kill always excited him…and it didn't matter that the victim was his girlfriend. It could have been any of the StarKids and besides they were going to kill them all eventually…the perfect plan…no one would suspect three people who could so easily be victims. Lauren tried to pull away from him but he was far stronger than her so picked her up and carried her the rest of the way.

* * *

Jaime sat down on the sofa and looked around. Now that she was untrusting of Brian she didn't want to leave Meredith but how could she bring up the subject? She jumped as her iPod suddenly started blaring. It was 'Get Back Up' from Starship. Jaime tried to get it to stop but the button seemed to be jammed, the only way she could get it to stop was to pull the earphones out. Once there was silence again she looked up at Meredith who seemed confused.

"It must be broken."

She nodded at this although she didn't believe it. Why that song? Brian was sat on the other side the room and Jaime kind of felt trapped. There was a silence in the room and you could probably have cut it with a knife. Jaime was saved by a text but as she read it, it made her blood run cold.

*Text from unknown number*

LAUREN

And in that moment Jaime knew. She shouldn't have left Lauren! Jaime suddenly felt so stupid! She had seen that picture and Lauren had been crossed out too. In the next second she was on her feet and running out into the hallway. The others followed her.

"What's the matter?"

"The killer's going after Lauren!"

Brian stepped forward but Jaime had already pulled open the door and was running down the corridor. He slowly turned to look back at Meredith. The worry was clear on her face.

"We should go too."

He was supposed to have kept both Jaime and Meredith here. That was why he'd text Jaime from Mere's phone but he could still keep Meredith here. She walked up to him but he slowly looked away.

"Come Brian!"

"Oh I think they'll wait for me."

And in the next second he had pulled a cloth from his pocket and clamped it over Meredith's mouth and nose. She struggled against him but he soon felt her going limp in arms. That was one down…now to warn the others that Jaime was on the way.

* * *

_A/N: *runs away*_

_BYE_!


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: So this is a massive chapter! Argh! This is the end…the final showdown, but who will win…_

_AllThatIWant: All will be revealed…_

_1katiemariee: You don't know how many people I read your review out to XD and please…stay with the chapter until the end!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Yes! And what happened to Mere?!_

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: I'm sorry!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Oh…oh my…please don't :'(_

_Vuraangreg: Yes! And yes Joe was the 3rd! And you will find out…_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: *screams and runs*_

_sami-sam99: Argh! :o and bahaha :')_

_TearsOfaClown: XD_

_StarkidPD: Aww thank you! :')_

_PotterFanatic: Aww! :'( and well at least you thinks it's well written XD and there was karma last night when you overheated my phone with all your tweets…_

_starkidllamas-llama: Haha and yes he is…that's why I thought you'd all suspect him as he was the odd thing out XD and aww :'(_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: I'm sorry! :'( sorry you cried! *throws rainbow cookies at you* huggles! Yes he did! And yes! Once you know it's obvious :D_

_KillingPeopleJustMakesThemDe ad: Calmness! And you'll find out everything!_

_Everyone: Getting real tired of your sarcasm Jenny._

_Dapper Dino: Hehehe :D AND WHAT IF THEY ARE AT LEAKY CON! WHAT IF I CRY IN THEIR FACES?!_

_BabyUrNotAlone: Sorry! :'( and aww thank you :')_

_TearsOfaClown: Aww huggles! You'll find out! AND YOUR HEART BETTER HOLD OUT!_

_StarkidBecca: CALM BECCA! SHE'S NOT DEAD AND JAIME IS RACING TOWARDS HER!_

_Guest: :'( and yay for guessing and you'll find out!_

_dance-sing-live: PLEASE DON'T DIE! I'LL MISS SEEING YOU'VE FAVOURITED MY TWEETS XD And aww haha! Thanks! My mum's calling me Denise again XD_

_hogwarts2312: Yep o_O_

_Hogwarts: Mere's alive! And this is the final!_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: YEP!_

_Pottermore2917: SORRY! :'( and Mere isn't dead!_

_PigfartsRules: NOOO DON'T UNFOLLOW ME! :'(_

_Okay so a lot of feels in those reviews…we're almost ready for the chapter!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story._

_This chapter contains scenes which some readers may find upsetting._

_ENJOY!_

* * *

Lauren avoided eye contact with Joe as he tied her to the kitchen chair. Finally he came back around to her front and crouched down in front of her. She flinched as he held her face in his hand. This had to be a dream...her boyfriend couldn't be about to watch her die. And Dylan was in on it too? Katie was right when she said there was more than one…but both Joe and Dylan were right handed… Joe slowly wiped away her tears and then they stared at each other.

"Why?"

She watched as Joe's expression became thoughtful and he slowly stood up and moved away. Lauren shifted her eyes from Dylan to Joe and found they both looked just as unforgiving as each other.

"Do you remember those two homicides that happened that started this whole thing off?"

Slowly, she nodded to say she did. What did they have to do with this now? They had caught the guy and he had confessed...those killings and the killings of the Chicago Ripper were seen as two separate cases now.

"Well Dylan here was unfortunate enough to witness it and it messed him up pretty bad."

Joe swallowed as Lauren's eyes slowly widened. He turned to Dylan and saw he was staring back at him. They shared a look before Joe looked back at Lauren. They didn't have much time.

"So Dylan needed to vent his feelings and decided to do that by killing and he killed June."

"But that doesn't explain why you're here Joe."

He looked away for a moment as he slowly pulled on a pair of black gloves. Once he had them on, Joe slowly walked towards Lauren. The chair creaked as she tried to pull away.

"Dylan was smart. He set it up so that if he wanted to, he could easily frame us. And that was how he blackmailed us into helping him."

"Us?"

Joe smiled and ruffled her hair before moving over to the duffle bag Dylan had placed on the counter and started looking through it. Dylan really had brought everything they could possibly need. It was surprising how after only a little experience you got to know what you needed.

"Yeah there's someone else working with us but unfortunately, you won't get to meet them."

"Joe you don't have to do this!"

He slowly turned round and looked at Lauren. She was pulling on her ropes and jumped as he came up behind her and grabbed her by the neck. Lauren whimpered and stared up at him.

"Oh but we do Lauren. You see we all vowed to just each kill once. I killed Nick Lang. Chris and Nick Strauss counted as one, who were killed by our accomplice and then the plan was to blame Jeff because we sure didn't want to go to jail."

"Why Jeff?"

Dylan thought this over as Joe slowly looked at him. He finally let go of Lauren's neck and moved away. There was silence in the kitchen for a moment, the only sound came from Lauren as she tried and failed to keep her breaths deep and even. After a moment, Dylan took a deep breath and got ready to speak.

"There's no real reason why we chose him. He was just the first person we thought of."

"You made everyone believe that he was a killer and that he killed his own girlfriend."

He shared a look with Joe and motioned for him to carry on. Joe knew this part of the story better than he did. Dylan looked up at the clock and gestured his hand. How much time would they have before Jaime came home?

"It was never in the original plan to kill Denise but then she was doing all that shit with finding alibis for Jeff. We realised how close she was to foiling our plan when she had that phone call with you about the restaurant alibi so she had to go and I sorted that out."

Lauren's breath caught as Joe said this. She remembered that call but she also remembered how happy Joe had seemed about the fact they were on the verge of clearing Jeff's name…Denise was killed the next day. Had that been because Joe had heard the phone call? A shiver went down her spine.

"And then Dylan and I popped round to see Jeff for a 'chat'"

Everyone turned to Dylan as his phone buzzed. A moment later Dylan looked up at Joe.

"We don't have much time."

She watched as Joe nodded before slowly turning back to look at her. There was silence for a moment before Dylan slowly unfolded his arms.

"Well we better get started them."

She whimpered as Joe stepped towards her and raised his hand. Lauren squeezed her eyes shut and a moment later Joe's hand connected with her cheek and knocked her sideways. He had caught her lip and she tasted blood in her mouth. And so it began. Would it take long? Joe had said it would be over before she knew it. But he could have been lying.

"I have a question."

Lauren held her breath as Joe froze and stared at her. He seemed unsure of what to do so slowly looked at Dylan. Her cheek was burning and it brought tears to her eyes but it didn't stop her from staring determinedly at the boys. Before they killed her she had to know. How could they have possibly killed her friends? She already knew they had vowed to all kill once but they had carried on, and she wanted to know why.

"Why did you carry on?"

Dylan slowly smiled at this question. Lauren was clearly trying to stare them out but this question was easy to answer. They had carried on because…

"It's fun…"

He chuckled slightly as Lauren gasped and the determined look drained from her eyes. She obviously hadn't been expecting that answer. Dylan quickly walked over to the bag and pulled a weapon out.

* * *

Meredith slowly opened her eyes. The room around her was swirling and the lights seemed so bright. She quickly realised she was on the bedroom floor and her hands were behind her back and seemed to be tied to something. With a pull she realised she was tied to the foot post of the bed. Brian had…drugged her. The apartment was silence so he had left, had he followed Jaime? But Jaime would be heading straight into a trap! And Lauren was already there.

"Help!"

She pulled at the rope that was restraining her but the knots were too tight. If only she could make it to Eric's apartment. They were in the same building so it would be easy to get him and then the more of them there were, the more they could do to help Lauren and Jaime. Her head was still spinning and she couldn't think straight but one thing she did know was she had to get out of here! Meredith struggled for a few moments before sighing. She looked around the room for anything to cut the rope with but everything was out of reach. So after a moment, Meredith took a deep breath and started trying to pull on hand through the small gap between the foot post and the rope.

* * *

Jaime rushed into the apartment and looked around. The apartment didn't look any different. She stopped as she heard a small whimper from the kitchen. Jaime didn't stop to think what she might find and finally she stopped in the doorway. Her breath caught as she saw Lauren.

"Lo?"

She slowly walked forward and knelt down next to her. Lauren's head was slumped forward and there was blood dripping down her face from a cut on her brow and she already had the beginnings of a black eye. Jaime shook her slightly and felt relief wash over her as her eyes fluttered and she moaned.

"I'm just gonna untie you okay sweetie and then we can get you help."

She quickly started ripping at the tight knots in the rope and finally they were all off. In the next second she was carefully pulling Lauren to her feet but it was then that Lauren looked into her eyes.

"Jaime they're still here."

This made Jaime stop. It sounded like they were alone in the apartment but Lauren still seemed so terrified. Jaime suddenly remembered her panic button, she routed in her bag for it but quickly realised it was gone. Brian must have taken it when she wasn't looking…they were on their own. Trying not to think of this she looped Lauren's arm around her shoulder and supported her as they walked. They made it out of the kitchen before Jaime stopped them dead.

"Hello Jaime, fancy seeing you here."

Lauren slowly looked up as she heard the voice. She gasped as she saw Brian was stood between them and the front door. His face looked cold and determined. Lauren felt so dizzy and could barely keep standing. Was…was Brian in on this too?

"Brian, where's Meredith?"

"Oh, she's otherwise engaged…"

She shrunk back into Jaime as Brian spoke, his voice cool and controlled, he was in on this. Jaime pulled her back, away from him but then she heard her gasp. Lauren turned her head around just in time to see Joe and Dylan appear in the room. She could feel Jaime shaking and Lauren was shaking to. Three of their friends were going to kill them. She had no strength to fight as Joe stepped forward and started pulling her away from Jaime. Jaime put up a fight but the two other boys easily held her back.

"You won't get away with this!"

"Oh I think you'll find we will Jaime."

* * *

Lauren had been placed on the floor of the sitting room whilst the boys tied Jaime up. They had gagged her before dragging her off but Lauren could still hear her muffled screams. She rolled onto her stomach and tried crawling out of the room but her limbs felt so heavy. She tried pulling her arms along and had slithered a small way when she heard someone come into the room behind her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She screamed as Brian stamped down on her back and prevented her from crawling any further. He only held his foot there for a moment but it left an imprint of white, hot pain. Lauren screamed as he pulled her up by her hair and dragged her to her feet. Brian pulled her round to face the door as Joe and Dylan came into the room. Lauren struggled against him but stopped as he painfully gripped her arms. They all moved back into the kitchen. Lauren fought against Brian but she felt so weak. Finally he threw her on the kitchen floor and they all stood over her. She looked down at the floor for a moment and tried to catch her breath. There was one last thing she had, one thing that might just save her life. So slowly she looked up at Joe and only at him. She stared into his blue eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm pregnant."

She watched as Joe's eyes slowly widened and his face became blank. Joe looked at the other two before looking back at her. Lauren quickly wiped away her tears before looking back up at Joe. Speaking it aloud made it seem so much more real and now it could be all almost over.

"What?"

Joe finally spoke and stared at Lauren. She couldn't be, could she? For the first time he doubted everything they were doing. If Lauren was pregnant this changed everything. Lauren could barely hold herself up but she kept staring at him. Joe slowly started to move towards her but then suddenly Dylan was stood in his way.

"Don't listen to her!"

He looked at Dylan's angry expression before looking back at Lauren. She seemed shocked at Dylan's outburst and he saw fresh tears in her eyes. Finally he looked back at Dylan as he spoke.

"She's lying! We're about to kill her, she'd say anything."

"I'm not lying! There was that night 4 weeks ago when we didn't use protection and you know that Joe!"

That was true. There had been that night. Joe could feel himself starting to tremble. Lauren was now sobbing and had curled up in a ball. He pushed past Dylan and crouched down next to her. He felt like he'd suddenly woken up from a deep sleep and was seeing the world properly, for the first time in a long time. They had killed their friends and for what? And now Lauren was next but she was pregnant with his child and he refused to let anything more happen to her. He rested his hand on her shoulder and finally she looked up at him.

"Are you sure?"

He squeezed her shoulder as she nodded and burst into fresh tears. This couldn't go on. It had to stop…now. They would all be arrested but Lauren would be alive and to Joe, that was all that mattered now. He smiled slightly…they were going to have a baby.

"This ends now."

Joe looked over his shoulder at Dylan and Brian who were stood watching in silence. He looked back at Lauren and pulled a piece of hair behind her ear. She gazed at him with her large brown eyes and suddenly Joe was crumbling inside.

"I'm sorry."

He watched as she was about to answer but suddenly she was looking behind him and her eyes were wide with terror.

"Joe!"

Lauren screamed his name but there was little time to do more than that. Joe didn't even have time to turn around before Dylan stabbed the knife into his back. She screamed as he yanked it out and stepped back. Joe looked out her for a moment and she held her hands out to him but her eyes filled with tears as he coughed up blood before slumping to the ground. He couldn't be dead. Joe had just seen the error of his ways, and he was the only one who had believed her. There was no one to protect her now. However she watched as Brian seemed to come out of a daze and turn to Dylan.

"What the hell was that for?"

"He was hesitating!"

"Well you didn't have to kill him!"

The boys were ripping at each other and Lauren took this as her change to crawl out of the room. They'd killed Joe! They were turning on each other. And she had just told him the news…and now he was dead. Even after everything he'd done, Lauren was still shaking as she relived the moment in her mind. She made it to the door and quietly got to her feet before running to Jaime's room. Jaime seemed shocked to see her as Lauren knelt next to her and pulled the gag off her mouth.

"Lauren what's happening?"

"Dylan…killed Joe."

She started on trying to untie Jaime. The knots were secured well and Lauren sighed in frustration. Suddenly Jaime was shushing her and she looked up and listened.

"I don't care if it wasn't your job to watch her! Go and find her and bring her back in here!"

Lauren tried pulling at the knots faster but they would loosen. She kept looking at the doorway as she heard footsteps from around the apartment.

"Lo, go and hide. It's you they want."

She stopped and looked into Jaime's eyes. Her blue eyes were wide and she was visibly shaking. She looked over Lauren's shoulder at the doorway before looking back at her. Jaime urged her to go and finally Lauren stumbled to her feet and fled Jaime's room. Somehow, she made it into her bedroom and searched through her drawers for something heavy. She found a dumbbell in the bottom drawer and pulled it out. It wasn't that heavy but it could probably do some damage.

"Come on Lauren! We just want to talk!"

Dylan glanced at Brian as he passed him. They were in a locked apartment. There were only so many places she could hide. He passed Jaime's bedroom and looked at her. She stared up at him and her breath caught in her throat. It was then that he noticed her gag was gone. So Lauren had been here…he looked down the hallway. The last door on the right was Lauren's room. Would she really have hidden in her own bedroom? He smiled and slowly started walking again. Dylan stepped into the room and looked around. It seemed empty. He made it to the middle and it was then that he heard a quiet creak.

He turned just in time to see Lauren jump out from behind the door and hit him over the head with the dumbbell. Lauren was stronger than he'd thought she'd be. In the next second he was falling and heading straight for the corner of her dresser. Dylan hit it with a sickening crack and then everything went black.

Lauren dropped the dumbbell and moved slowly towards Dylan. He wasn't moving and there was a steady stream of blood coming from a deep wound on his head from where he'd head the dress. She dashed out of the room and back towards Jaime's.

* * *

Brian rounded the corner into Lauren's room and found Dylan. He checked his pulse and found there was none. Dylan was dead. Shit. This had all gone so wrong. He was the only one left now. It wasn't supposed to be like this! But he couldn't stop now. He stood back up and pulled a gun out of his belt, he loaded it and then pulled the safety off. Brian carefully left the room and walked down the hallway to Jaime's room. In the room he found Lauren trying to untie Jaime. Jaime saw him immediately but it took for him to speak for Lauren to look up.

"Lauren, Lauren, Lauren."

Jaime couldn't take her eyes of Brian as he stood her. She could feel Lauren clutching at the rope. She had been trying to pull against the ropes the whole time she'd been tied up but it hadn't worked. They seemed to be in a standoff. They were going to die. He was going to kill Lauren and then he was going to kill her. Jaime's breath caught as suddenly Brian pointed the gun at them.

"Move away from Jaime."

She felt Lauren hesitate for a moment before slowly standing and stepping away. In the next second Brian had marched forward and grabbed Lauren by the back of her shirt. Lauren struggled against him but he had soon dragged her out of the room. Jaime started desperately pulling at the ropes and screamed in frustration.

* * *

Meredith had been pulling at the ropes for what felt like hours. Her wrists had been rubbed raw but finally, one of her hands slipped out. She shrieked in relief and pulled the other one out. Not stopping to inspect her damaged wrists, she stood up and in the next second was running from the apartment. In no time she had made it to Eric's apartment and was banging on the door. Finally Eric opened it and stared at her.

"Mere, what's the matter?"

"The killer's gone after Lauren and Brian's in on it."

"What?"

Eric was trying to pull her into the apartment but she shook him off. They didn't have time for this! They had to go!

"Listen, I'll explain on the way!"

By now, Jade had appeared behind Eric and they both stared at her. Meredith sighed in frustration and showed them her bloodied wrists.

"Look! Brian drugged me and then tied me up and now he's gone to meet the other killers as yes there's more than two and they are going to kill Lauren and now Jaime seeing as she's there. So we need to go!"

She stepped back as suddenly Eric and Jade were grabbing their coats and coming out into the corridor. Meredith started running towards the elevator and could hear them behind her. She looked round as Eric spoke.

"I'll tell everyone to meet us there!"

* * *

Brian pulled Lauren back into the kitchen. This would be easy enough, he could set it up so that it looked like Dylan, Joe, Lauren and Jaime had all killed each other in the final showdown. Lauren had already killed Dylan. He shoved her to the ground and ran a hand through his hair. Lauren backed away from him and pressed herself against the cabinets.

"So Lauren, it's just you and me now."

"Yeah, and you're going to go the same way as Dylan and Joe."

He laughed a cold, sarcastic laugh. She really thought she'd won? Brian was the one holding a gun! Slowly, he stepped over Joe's body and moved towards her. The only sounds were the sounds of their ragged breath as they both stared at each other.

"Any last words?"

"Yes, don't underestimate me."

Lauren suddenly lunged at Brian's legs. It took him completely off guard and he fell to the floor. As soon as he'd landed Lauren scrambled to his hand and pulled the gun free of it. She stepped back up and pointed it at him. Brian had quickly got over his shock and was now slowly standing up. Lauren followed him with the gun but couldn't bring herself to shot it. Why not? It would all be over then. Brian seemed to have noticed her hesitation and smiled.

"Go on, shot me."

She put her finger on the trigger but still she couldn't do it. Lauren could only watch as Brian picked up a knife of the counter and slowly walked towards her. With every step him took, her mind screamed at her to shot but it didn't happen and soon Brian's chest was touching the barrel of the gun. Lauren shivered as she felt a pinprick and looked down to see he was holding the tip of the knife against her stomach.

"If I go, I'm taking you with me."

She stared into his cold, brown eyes and something stirred in Lauren. If she killed Brian it would all be over and her gun was trained on his heart so he would die. There might be some change to save her. So she took a deep breath.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take."

At the same time as Lauren fired the gun, Brian plunged the knife into her stomach. Lauren had shot him right through the heart, killing him instantly. However as he fell to the floor he pulled the knife out. Lauren screamed and clutched at her stomach. Her breathing was fast becoming ragged as she tried to stop the blood but there was too much. It was seeping through her fingers and within minutes her legs had collapsed beneath her. She leant against the cabinet and tried to keep her breaths deep and even. So this was how it ended. The three killers were finally dead but it would come at the cost of her life too.

"Lauren?"

She could hear Jaime shouting but she sounded so far away. Lauren felt like she had cotton wool in her ears. The gun slipped out of her hand and she pressed both of her hands on her stomach. So this is what it felt like to die. She looked at Joe who was laying a little way off from her. He was facing her and she jumped as his eyes suddenly shot open. His eyes bored into hers. How could he possibly still be alive? Joe tried to pull himself up and Lauren stared frozen as he did but then he fell back down again. He shouldn't be alive… Lauren closed her eyes and didn't try and stop the tears from falling done her face. Her energy was draining fast and no matter how hard she tried to hold herself up, she had soon slipped down the cabinet altogether and was now lying on the floor.

Lauren felt so woozy. Her vision kept blurring and she really had to fight the waves of sleep that were washing over her. She looked to her left as she sensed movement out of the corner of her eye. Lauren's breath caught as she saw them, she knew she had to be hallucinating but with them here she wasn't as scared. Julia was the first to reach her and knelt down next to her. She knew they couldn't be here but as Denise knelt down next to Julia and smiled at her, Lauren didn't care.

"You did it Lo."

She smiled slightly; it felt like years since she'd heard Julia's voice. Lauren looked around at all of them and was met by the smiling faces of June, Nick Strauss, Chris, Nick Lang, Denise, Jeff and Julia. They looked just how she remembered them when they had been alive. Julia moved down and took Lauren's hand. It felt so strange as she could feel Julia's hand but then again she couldn't.

"I'm scared."

"It's normal to be but we're here for you and you won't be alone, not for one second."

This did settle her mind a little. The pain was like nothing she had ever felt before and Lauren wasn't able to take deep breaths anymore. Suddenly there were the sounds of a door banging open and running footsteps. There were shouts but she couldn't make out who they were. She watched as Julia and Denise shared a look and Jeff moved forward and placed his hand on Denise's shoulder. The footsteps drew closer and suddenly Lauren was looking up into Jaime's eyes.

"Lo? Lauren can you hear me?"

Jaime held Lauren's face and tapped it with her hand as her eyes slowly started to close. Lauren was covered in blood and Jaime knew they didn't have much time left to help her. Finally Lauren opened her large brown eyes again but they had a vacant look about them. She looked over her shoulder at Meredith, Corey, Eric, Matt, Jade and Jim who were stood in the doorway in a state of shock.

"Call for help! She's dying!"

She coughed out the last word. Tears were filling Jaime's eyes and she quickly tried to wipe them away. Finally she heard Jim spur into action and pull his phone from his pocket. Meredith had knelt next to them and took Lauren's hand.

"Come on Lolo, you can pull through this."

For a few moments Jaime looked around the room. Brian and Joe, who she now knew were the killers, were lying motionless on the ground and she knew Dylan was in Lauren's room and he had headed the same way. How could they have possibly done this? They'd killed their friends. Jaime blinked as suddenly Corey was stood over them holding towels.

"We need to put pressure on the wound."

She nodded and took the towels from him. Jaime looked back at Lauren and found she was staring back at her. She was so pale and Jaime could feel her shaking.

"Lauren, sweetie I'm just going to press these against your stomach. Can you move your hands?"

Meredith watched as Lauren did a small nod and slowly moved her hands away. She winced as she saw all the blood. Her whole shirt was stained a dark red and Lauren's teeth had started chattering. Jaime folded the towel over and pressed it to the wound. Meredith's heart missed a beat as Lauren squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered.

"The emergency services are on their way."

She looked up as Jim spoke from the doorway. Meredith slowly looked round at Brian. He was lying on his back and there was a large blood stain right above his heart. She had thought she'd known him but that whole view had changed in a matter of hours. However she still wished she could just know why he'd done it, why any of them had done it? And now Lauren was about to die too, even when they were all finally safe, they were about to lose another one.

"Lauren, Lauren you need to try and stay awake."

Lauren slowly opened her eyes again as Jaime spoke. She could hear the urgency in her voice and so tried to keep her eyes open but it was so hard. The pain had turned into a constant throbbing pain as Jaime pressed the towel to the wound. How deep had she been stabbed? It felt like she'd lost so much blood and that the life was simply draining out of her. How long would it be before help arrived? It seemed to have been hours. She moved her head slightly and smiled as she saw them again. Julia and Denise were kneeling by her head and the others were stood behind them.

"Jaime, I can see them."

She looked round and smiled at Jaime. Her head felt so heavy and there were black spots appearing in her vision. It seemed everyone had fallen silent as she spoke and she watched as Jaime and Meredith shared a look before they both looked back at her. They seemed so worried but oddly, she wasn't worried, she wasn't even scared anymore. Finally she looked back at the figments of her imagination or whatever they were and found Julia was holding her hand out to her.

"It's time Lo."

Slowly, she started to lift up her hand to her but it felt so heavy. She could hear Jaime and the others starting to panic and Lauren looked back at them although her vision had started to blur. And then slowly her eyes started to close.

"No, no, no! Lauren stay with us!"

She could hear Jaime screaming and sobbing and everything seemed to be in complete chaos. However Lauren could feel herself sinking deeper and deeper into unconsciousness. Even so she felt herself smile. Everything was okay, it was all okay now, it was all…just a dream…Just. A. Dream…

* * *

_A/N: THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY SO DON'T GET YOUR PITCHFORKS OUT JUST YET!_

_BYE!_


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: See! I told you it wasn't over! Please don't kill me! Sorry if I made you cry!_

_starkidllamas-llama: Sorry Hannah! :'(_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: I'm sorry! It's was because it was the massive finale_

_Coolest Girl: Thanks! And you'll find out!_

_1katiemariee: Sorry Katie! Huggles!_

_The Author42: Hmm...I can see you're freaking out._

_Starkidtheatregeek: I know! And yeah..._

_dance-sing-live: Haha and yeah never mind them reading my other ones I'd die if they read this :L and you'll see...and aww haha_

_Emma: I'm sorry! :'( and they are only fictional versions._

_sami-sam99: I know! :o_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Yay! I don't like making people cry XD and yeah best friends forever and you'll see about Joe...and aww thank you!_

_StarkidBecca: Haha and come on Becca it's me...someone has to be pregnant XD and hopefully it'll never hit her as she was just trying to stay alive. And Meredith will be okay and wait and see for everything else and at least Joe didn't kill her anyway._

_TotallyAwesome2727: Aww I'm sorry! :'(_

_AllThatIWant: Haha why? And yay!_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: *gulp* o_O_

_Vuraangreg: Wait and see and yeah stupid Dylan!_

_make-love-happen: Yep and haha, nope it's not the end and woo!_

_PotterFanatic: Yay and haha actually I love the pictures, they are all saved to my phone :') and yeah hehe I really wanted them to come for her :') Haha and yeah but at least her friends are safe now and it's all over. And thank you! :D_

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: Haha sorry and thank you :') and argh Lauren and Joe! :'( and glad you like it! And hehe :')_

_LivTheStarKid: Hi! And aww I'm sorry :'( and yeah I don't think they could and glad you liked it and here's more! :D_

_Emma: I feel terrible for killing them but I just had to write it XD sorry you cried Emma we'll get through this! *heart*_

_Dapper Dino: Hello Jenny...but glad you like it! AND FEELS!_

_Fireflies-glow1: Aww don't cry! :'( and here's the new chapter and aww thank you! :D_

_BeffaH: Oh wow I'm sorry! I know it's a bit of a feelings overload!_

_mega-girrrl: Haha I'm sorry XD_

_PigfartsRules: :'(_

_TearsOfasClown: You'll find out! And argh I'm sorry! Hugs!_

_Melissa: Oh wow :o_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships mentioned are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Lauren sat bolt upright, her eyes wide with terror. What the hell kind of dream had that been? Everyone had died…her friends had been murdered. She realised she was shaking so closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths. For the first time she noticed where she was, she was in a dressing room. As she heard the sounds of people outside she suddenly remembered where she was. She was backstage at HMB…the show started in about a half hour or so.

"Lauren are you awake yet?"

She jumped as the door suddenly opened and Brian appeared in the doorway. He was already in his Clark Kent costume. Lauren tried to smile at him but her heart was still racing. Brian seemed to notice this and came and sat down next to her.

"Hey are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just had a bad dream."

She rubbed her eyes before standing up and stretching. Lauren couldn't tell him about the dream. How could she possible bring it up? Brian had been one of the killers. He had been responsible for the deaths of their friends, but he hadn't, it had all been a dream. No one had died and they were all hear, about to do the last night of HMB.

"Can you believe it's the last night already?"

Lauren stopped as she saw Brian's expression change and become confused. He stood up and folded his arms.

"Lo, tonight is opening night."

What? How could tonight be opening night? Lauren was suddenly getting a strong sense of déjà vu. She'd been here before, Brian had come and woken her up before and that dream…it had felt so real. But how was that possible?

"Oh, I must be overtired."

She couldn't get the image out of her head of shooting Brian and watching his lifeless body fall to the ground. Lauren quickly excused herself, leaving a very confused Brian and walked out of the dressing room. Almost instantly she bumped into Dylan and almost screamed in his face.

"Whoa, whoa Lopez calm down! They'll hear you front of house."

No. Lauren could only see his dead body. Dylan had been the main killer and now here he was smiling at her, what if he still killed them all anyway? She pulled her arm out of his grasp and ran down the corridor. Suddenly Joe was stood in her path and holding her wrists…just like he had in the apartment. Lauren's heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest and she was close to hyperventilating. What if the three of them were planning to kill her, to kill all of them?

"Lo, babe, what's the matter?"

Lauren looked into his blue eyes for a moment, he was okay! Suddenly she blinked and looked behind her and saw Dylan and Brian were both staring at her and behind them she could make out Meredith and Jaime. They all seemed cautious of her but it was the boys they should be scared of! They had killed everyone. It didn't feel like it had been a dream, all the emotions had been so raw and the pain of that knife blade going into her. She suddenly remembered they had tried to kill her, Brian had stabbed her. Why couldn't she feel any pain?

"What's everyone looking at?"

Her eyes widened as Julia pushed through Jaime and the others and came to a stop next to Dylan. Julia, she was alive! But they had killed her! The boys had lured Jaime and herself away so Dylan could sneak in and murder her. Lauren could feel herself shaking as she slowly pulled her hands away from Joe and walked over to Julia. She flung her arms around her and started sobbing.

"And hello to you too Lauren…"

She clung to Julia and breathed in her smell but it felt so strange. It almost felt like she was hugging air…as if it wasn't real. Whenever she closed her eyes all she could see was Julia's lifeless body lying on the sofa of their apartment, her wide eyes vacant and staring. No…that had been a dream. IT HAD BEEN A DREAM! Then why did it feel so real? In the next second she had pulled away from Julia and was backing away whilst shaking her head. Lauren pushed past Joe and started running. She hadn't made it far before she tripped over two people who suddenly appeared out of one of the dressing rooms.

"Slow down Lauren, you're going to take someone eye out!"

Oh my god. Lauren pulled herself up and scrambled away from Jeff and Denise who was picking themselves up after she had pulled them down with her. They were dead…they were all dead! She stared at them but all she could see was Jeff being shot in the head and Denise gasping for breath as she was strangled. Lauren shivered and closed her eyes as they gazed at her. A moment later she curled up in a ball and tried to control her breathing. This was all in her mind…the dream had just been so vivid. She should be happy that her friends were actually alive, they weren't dead!

"Are you okay Lo?"

That sounded like Denise and Lauren slowly turned and looked up at her. Everyone was stood staring at her and it was unnerving Lauren. Why were they all looking at her? She'd watched most of them die! And it still felt like they were dead.

"Guys, we're starting soon."

Lauren screamed as Nick Lang appeared in the corridor. People rushed to clamp their hands over her mouth as she let out the blood curdling scream. Nick couldn't be alive…none of them could. She pulled away from everyone and carried on running. Where she was running, she didn't know but she just had to get away from here. People shouted after her but she ignored them in her haste to get away. She finally made it to the stage door and stopped for breath. Lauren froze against the wall as the door opened and Chris and Nick Strauss walked in. They spotted her and smiled but these smiles fell as she pointed a shaking hand at them.

"You're dead! You died!"

They seemed confused and shared a look. This was all inside her head, they really were dead. They had to be…those deaths had been so real! The way they had been hit with the baseball bat, it sent a shiver down her spine. Lauren's vision was blurring as her eyes filled with tears, the boys tried to comfort her but she pushed them away and ran out of the door. However she looked back as she heard a voice. Her heart stopped as she saw June stood in the doorway.

"Lauren! You're not supposed to go outside in your costumes!"

Lauren looked down at herself and for the first time realised she was in her Commission Gordon costume. She felt her face but she didn't have the fake moustache and eyebrows on yet. June stepped out towards her but she scrambled back. This was all a dream and soon she'd wake up and be back in that blood bath in the kitchen of her apartment. What if she was dead already? What if they were all dead and their afterlife was to perform HMB? She stared at June for a moment before turning and running.

"Lauren!"

It was hard to run with her eyes filling with tears but she made a good attempt. Her costume flapped out behind her and she ran at almost break next speed down the street. They couldn't all be dead, not all her friends…

"And if you think for one second that I would ever get back with you than you are lying to yourself!"

She slowly came to a stop as she heard a woman shouting up ahead. Lauren edged closer and looked around the corner into an alley. In the darkness she could make out a man and woman stood together and then another man. They seemed to be having a very animated argument. This all seemed very familiar…why did it feel like she'd been here before?

"What makes you think I'd want a whore like you back?"

"Say that again."

"She's a whore, I'm sorry to burst your little bubble but she's a serial dumper."

Lauren crept even closer to the argument. It seemed like a woman and her boyfriend arguing with her ex-boyfriend. Why was this familiar? Suddenly she remembered the news report of the double homicide, of a man and women by her ex-boyfriend. But that had been in the dream. How could she already know about that? This all felt like a dream, but she had just woken up from a dream. Suddenly the man pulled out a gun and pointed it at the other two. The woman screamed and suddenly her eyes locked with Lauren's. She stopped and stared at her and Lauren held her breath as they stared at each other but then suddenly the man had fired two shots and the woman had fallen to the floor. Her boyfriend launched himself at the shooter but he had the upper hand and another shot rang out and the man fell. Lauren ducked down behind a dumpster as the shooter looked around before fleeing the scene.

She slowly stood up and walked over to the woman. Lauren almost screamed as she saw she had been shot in the neck and blood was gushing out of the wound. The woman suddenly moved her hand and blood sprayed up onto Lauren's clothes and onto her face. This was the double homicide…but Dylan had been the one to see it! It wasn't supposed to be Lauren who was here! She collapsed to her knees next to the woman and pressed her hands against the wound but a moment later the woman let out a final breath. She was dead. The man was already dead. Lauren looked around at all the blood…there was so much of it. Her costume was ruined and her hands and face were dripping with blood too. Blood was such a strange colour…she'd never seen a red so deep. It was kind of…fascinating…

* * *

_A/N: So it was all a dream! But the double homicide still happened but it was Lauren who saw it and not Dylan...THE STORY STILL ISN'T OVER!_

_BYE!_


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: Hi! There have been so many interesting theories as to what the heck is going on! Well now you'll start to find out!_

_The Author42: Kinda a bit of everything! :D_

_mega-girrrl: Heheh_

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: Going?... and feels are good! XD_

_Vuraangreg: You'll find out soon enough…and sorry :'(_

_AllThatIWant: I'm sorry for confusing you!_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Wait and see! And sorry!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Ohhhh o_O_

_HarryPotterAlways11: I'm sorry!_

_Coolest Girl: Nope! :D_

_Dapper Dino: Haha no she's good! :D_

_dance-sing-live: IT'S NOT OVER YET! And thanks! :D_

_starkidllamas-llama: Yeah haha and wait and see…_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: I'm sorry! *hands cookie*_

_PotterFanatic: BREATHE!_

_sami-sam99: You'll see…_

_BeffaH: I'm sorry! :'(_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Ahhh…._

_Guest: Hehe yeah that was a dream :')_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Oh wow her being Batman would be awesome XD and thanks!_

_Fireflies-glow1: All will be revealed…_

_StarkidBecca: :o ARGH! NO BECCA I LOVE YOU! I'm sorry…_

_1katiemariee: I am so sorry Katie :'(_

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: Second reply for you! You go you! XD and ahh very interesting…that is really good!_

_make-love-happen: Yes you will have to wait and see…_

_TearsOfaClown: It was a dream and wait and see…_

_Kate: Aww I'm sorry Kate! :'(_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Lauren woke up drenched in sweat. She hated having flashbacks. It was one thing that she'd lost her friends but having to watch them die over and over was just heart-breaking. But what had that part been at the end? They had all been at HMB but it hadn't been a memory…and then there had been that woman and man…she had dreamt about them a lot recently… She jumped as suddenly the lights brightened and she had to squeeze her eyes shut against them. For the first time Lauren noticed where she was…she was in, a white padded cell. How had she gotten here? She was wearing grey sweats, a white vest top and white canvas shoes with no shoelaces. These clothes weren't her own.

"Hello? Is there anybody there?"

She banged against the door and shouted until her voice was hoarse. She wasn't supposed to be here. They had the wrong person! Lauren shouted and shouted but fell silent as she heard the door unlocking. She scrambled away and pressed herself against the far wall. The door opened and a woman in a white lab coat and two men dressed in white stood in the doorway.

"Hello Lauren. Did you sleep well?"

"I shouldn't be here! You have the wrong person!"

"I'm sure you have lots of questions but let's go somewhere where we can talk."

The men stepped forward and Lauren pressed herself against the wall. She didn't understand why she was here? What had she done? Dylan, Joe and Brian had been the killers! And they were dead so she didn't need this protection. Lauren screamed as the men pulled her to her feet and struggled as they handcuffed her.

"Now, Lauren we will sedate you again if we have to."

Again? Lauren stared at the woman's stern expression and finally stayed still as the two men finished handcuffing her. Where were her friends? Jaime and Meredith had survived, she remembered them being there after she had been stabbed but where were they now? And what about her stab wound? For the first time she was aware of a dull pain in her stomach but it only felt like yesterday that she'd had the confrontation in the kitchen with the killers. How could it have healed so quickly?

The men led her out into a white, clinical corridor. Lauren was scared. This had to be a dream but for the first time in a long time it didn't feel like she was dreaming, this was real. The woman went ahead of them and they set off down the corridor. As they walked they passed numerous other cell doors, Lauren felt so out of place here and yet there was something strangely familiar about it. They reached a door at the end of the corridor and went through it. The walk was silent and soon they stopped at another door.

Jaime held her breath and slipped her hand into Meredith's as they watched Lauren walk into the room through the glass. She was in an interview room and they were in the room next to it. There was a one-way glass set up so they could see her but she couldn't see them. Lauren didn't look any different as she was sat down and gazed about the room. Two months had passed since the blood bath in their apartment and the truth had finally come out. Lauren was and always had been the killer. But something strange had happened. The doctors had diagnosed her as criminally insane but it was something more than that. It was like she didn't remember what she had done. If anyone asked her what had happened she said Dylan, Joe and Brian had been the killers and had stabbed her in the final confrontation. But that wasn't what had happened…

"Can you please state your full name?"

"Lauren Elizabeth Lopez."

She stared at her friend through the glass. Lauren really did seem like the same person but she had killed all those people, their friends. The story she had created was incredible and Lauren really did believe it. They had tried to get her to remember the truth but it was like she was blissfully living in her own head and couldn't break free of its hold.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"No! I just want to go home; the killers are gone now so I'm safe."

She brought a shaking hand to her mouth and held it there. It broke Jaime's heart to see Lauren like this. She looked like a little lost child as she stared at the woman. The woman in question was Doctor Harrison, it had been her job over the past two months to try and get Lauren to remember but so far she had failed. Lauren just didn't want to remember…or couldn't remember. Jaime watched as Doctor Harrison pulled out a number of photos and spread them out on the table. It was the same thing every time. Doctor Harrison showed her photos of the crime scenes and the bodies of their friends and asked Lauren if she remembered. She watched as Lauren's eyes widened and tears filled her eyes.

"Why are you showing me these?"

"Because acceptance is the first step."

"Acceptance of what?"

Meredith sighed and moved away from the window. They had lost their friends, in the most horrific of ways and it had been at the hands of Lauren. Little Lolo. And now on top of that…it felt like they had lost Lauren too. Oddly, she didn't blame her for the murders. Lauren was very sick and sometimes Meredith hoped she would never fully realise what she had done as that knowledge would rip Lauren apart and she would never be able to live with herself.

"Lauren, who killed your friends?"

"Dylan, Joe and Brian."

That had been the answer she had given for two months. Meredith shuddered as she remembered the horror as they had slowly walked into the kitchen. After a moment she walked back to the window and lent against the frame.

"But it doesn't add up does it? That's why you came up with the idea of three killers."

"Came up with the idea?"

This was always the hardest part. The lead up into the actually telling her. Meredith took a deep breath and watched as Doctor Harrison lent in to Lauren.

"Lauren, you killed them."

Lauren's month fell open. She hadn't killed them! Why would this woman say that? She stared at the woman and tried to control her breathing but she was failing miserably. She didn't like this woman but Lauren couldn't shake the feeling that she did know her.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Doctor Katie Harrison. We are in a maximum security facility and you have been for the past two months."

Katie Harrison? But she had been the Coroner's Assistant. This woman didn't look like that Katie but what the odds of her meeting two Katie Harrison's in such a short space of time? She looked down at photos and stared at them. There were photos of June, Nick Strauss, Chris, Nick Lang, Denise, Jeff, Dylan and Brian but not Joe. Where was he? He'd died, Dylan had killed him but then she remembered…he had looked at her after she had been stabbed…could he still be alive?

"Where's Joe?"

"Mr Walker was taken to hospital in a critical condition and was in a very critical condition but is making a full recovery."

"But Joe's one of the killers!"

Jaime heart missed a beat as Lauren shouted this in the woman's face. One of the men in white stepped forward and pulled her back into her seat. She looked around as the door opened and Matt, Corey, Jim, Daniel and Joe walked into the room. It was hardest for Joe, he was the only survivor of those attacked but he had to live with having Lauren constantly accuse him. Jaime and the others had been in to see Lauren once or twice but they wouldn't let Joe in as they were worried of Lauren's reaction. She watched him for a moment as he sat down but the window.

"Are you okay Joe?"

She carried on watching him as he slowly looked at her. It seemed he was in a world of his own and it took him a moment to come back to earth. He fiddled with his jacket sleeve and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

She knew he wasn't but she wouldn't get any more out of him. They had all tried talking about it and they had but there were still things that were never mentioned. The main unspeakable subject was Lauren's miscarriage. Jaime closed her eyes as she thought of this. Lauren had been pregnant when the whole murder case had come to an end…she said Brian had stabbed her but she had stabbed herself and it had caused her to miscarry but it was still so strange to think about it…

* * *

_Jaime slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She rubbed the back of her head and winced as she touched a painful part, she'd been hit with something. Suddenly she was aware of shouts coming from the kitchen and her eyes widened. Lauren and the others. She crawled over to Meredith who was lying nearby and shook her awake._

_"Meredith?"_

_Finally Meredith opened her eyes and Jaime helped her into a sitting position. Her eyes were cloudy and the effects of the knockout drugs were still clear in her movements. They both stood and slowly walked towards the door._

_"Lauren, just put the gun down and then we can talk about this calmly!"_

_"No! Because you're the killers and if I kill you now than it's all over and we'll all be safe!"_

_"Lauren we can get you help and then everything will be okay and no one else needs to die."_

_She took a deep breath and held on to Meredith. Jaime didn't remember the boys coming in, Lauren had knocked both her and Meredith out. She had kept saying over and over that Dylan, Joe and Brian were going to kill them and that she had to stop it…she had then hit Jaime over the head with something that she was sure had been a dumbbell, it hadn't drawn blood but she had such a bad headache._

_"If I kill you then no more of us will die."_

_"No Lauren, you're the problem. You killed them."_

_"Why does everyone keep saying that? I'd think I'd remember if I did!"_

* * *

Jaime slowly opened her eyes and looked back through the window. Lauren was still staring at the photos but suddenly she looked up and right at Jaime. Of course Lauren couldn't see her but Jaime felt she couldn't look away. Those weren't the eyes of a killer. They were the eyes of a scared little girl who was a long way from home and didn't know why she was here. After a moment, Lauren slowly looked away and Jaime let out the breath she'd been holding. These sessions normally took a long time so Jaime settled herself in for a long wait and didn't let her mind wonder for the risk of flashbacks to what she had seen.

* * *

_A/N: Yeahhhh…I'm sure you all hate me._

_Bye!_


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Hi guys! Sorry this kind of short but I've been really busy today and yesterday so there'll probably be long gaps between chapters…sorry!_

_The Author42: Ahh I'm sorry, yeah it turns out Lauren is the killer but in her head it was Joe, Brian, Dylan._

_Obsessed31: I'm sorry :'(_

_AllThatIWant: Haha oddly you're not the first person who after reading this story has said I should be in a padded cell XD and woo haha_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Is that good or bad XD_

_guess who: Bahahaha XD_

_StarkidPD: Hehe thanks :D I've been looking forward to dropping that plot twist for days XD_

_make-love-happen: Haha and yep Lauren is the one and only killer and I'm determined to finish it!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Haha ahh I'm sorry *pieces feels back together*_

_starkidllamas-llama: Ahhh haha XD_

_Dapper Dino: Yes! Like you :o_

_mega-girrrl: Awww okay *turns brilliance off*_

_Vuraangreg: Yep! Haha :D and nope it was Lauren all along and yes Joe is alive!_

_PotterFanatic: BAD IZZY!_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Yes the most of them were her dream as she was sedated and just relived the story she's made up in her head and which she believed. When she woke up in the dressing room she saw everyone who had died in backwards order which acted as rewinding the story to the double homicide. And then she finally woke up in the real world. Does that make sense XD_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: Aww I'm sorry!_

_sami-sam99: :o_

_Hogwarts2312: Hehe thanks!_

_TearsOfaClown : No! *puts heart back together*_

_HarryPotterAlways11: Noooo!_

_Beffax3: o_O wait…wrangle all of my clothing? XD_

_StarkidBecca: I'm sorry Becca! And no I only came up with idea literally last Friday XD and yeah hopefully she won't :'(_

_dance-sing-live: I know haha XD_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Yeah haha it was like when sometimes you think you've woken up but you haven't and yeah she just snapped and now these chapters are just to explain why :')_

_Fireflies-glow1: No! You're awesome to talk to! D:_

_LivTheStarKid: I'm so sorry :'( and wait and see…_

_Blah: Thank you blah XD_

_Umbridge: Awww! GROUP CHOIR ROOM CRY!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team Starkid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Joe looked on in complete silence. How had it come to this? No matter what people said to him, he felt like he'd failed Lauren. He should have seen that something was wrong with her. But he hadn't and they'd realised too late that something had snapped inside of her. Joe watched as she seemed to forget her hands were handcuffed and tried to pull a piece of hair behind her ear. They didn't exactly know how this had happened as they hadn't been able to get a straight answer out of Lauren but Joe couldn't help but remember that night. The night the police believed had started it all…

* * *

_Joe paced up and down the sitting room and ran a hand through his hair. Lauren was supposed to have been at his apartment a half hour ago, he'd called Julia and Jaime and they said she had set off ages ago. Where was she? Finally he heard a key in the door and dashed into the hallway. Lauren was slowly closing the door but kept her back to him._

_"Lo?"_

_He walked towards her but she still didn't look round. Joe stopped as he suddenly noticed a red stain on her jumper, was that…was that blood? Finally she turned and looked at him and Joe's mind went into overdrive. There was dried blood caked to the side of her face and most of her jumper was stained with it too. Joe rushed towards her and held her hands._

_"Lauren what's happened?"_

_"He…he killed them. They were arguing and then he just killed them."_

_What? She wasn't making any sense. Joe tried to get her to look at him but her, deep, brown eyes were just staring off into space. He could feel her trembling. Slowly, he pulled her into the sitting room and sat her down on the sofa. Lauren gazed around the room but Joe could tell she wasn't really seeing it. He had to know what she'd seen, was the blood her own? It couldn't be…there was too much of it._

_"I know it must be hard, but you need to tell me what's happened."_

_Lauren finally came out of her daze and looked at Joe. It felt like his eyes were looking right in to her soul. She didn't know where to begin. Her whole life had changed so quickly, one minute she had just been walking along the street, excited about spending the night with Joe and the next she had heard the shouts. Why had she gone down that alley? If she had just kept walking like any sane person would she wouldn't have seen it. She wouldn't have seen those people shot. Whenever she closed her eyes all she could see was those woman's eyes as she had spotted Lauren. They had been a dark, leafy green._

_"I heard people shouting, and I was curious so I went to see what it was about. There were two men and a woman and most of the shouting was being done by one of the men. And then suddenly he took out a gun…and shot them. He ran away but didn't see me as I hid but then I walked up to the woman."_

_Her voice trailed off… The woman had still been alive, although there was no hope in saving her. Lauren had watched her die…in some useless attempt she had pressed her hand against the woman's gunshot wound to the neck but that had just made it bleed more. So much blood…Lauren had never thought about how much blood there was in a person. Even now everything seemed to be stained a deep crimson. It was like the colour had been burnt onto her brain…forever… She blinked and looked up as she suddenly realised Joe was on his feet._

_"What are you doing?"_

_"We need to call the police and tell them what happened."_

_"Oh yeah…I guess we do…"_

_She had almost forgotten that something like this had to be reported to the police. It felt so surreal. She'd watched the life leave those woman's eyes. It wasn't like how they showed it in the movies. But then again she guessed those actors weren't really dying, were they? Lauren touched her cheek and jumped as she felt the dried blood. She had forgotten about that, she pulled at her jumper. It had been blue but there was no a large, dark red stain…it was pretty much ruined._

_"Do you wanna take a shower?"_

_Joe watched as she suddenly looked up at him and nodded. He moved forward to help her up but she patted his hand away. There was something different about her, clearly she was in a state of shock but it felt like there was something not quite right. However he pushed this thought away as Lauren walked past him and headed towards the bathroom. He took a breath before calling 911._

_It didn't take long for police to find the bodies. It turned out people in the surrounding buildings had heard gunshots and reported them to the police. But it would appear that Lauren was the only person who had seen anything. Joe stood in the kitchen and idly spun his empty glass on the counter. He could still hear the shower running; it had been for a while. After a moment he slowly walked up to the closed door and knocked on it._

_"Are you okay Lo?"_

_There was no answer. Joe tried the handle and the door slowly opened. The air was filled with the steam from the hot shower and had steamed up the mirror and the glass of the shower cubicle. Her blood soaked clothes with on a pile on the floor by the sink and Joe looked at them for a moment. He wished he'd been there to hold her and hide her face away so she wouldn't have seen all the blood, wouldn't have had to see the death. But he hadn't been. Joe looked at the shower cubicle and realised that even though the glass he could see Lauren's outline, but she wasn't stood up, she was sat on the floor. It seemed she had her legs wrapped around her knees._

_"Lauren?"_

_He thought he saw her move slightly but she still didn't speak. After a moment, Joe opened the door and looked down at her. She was hunched over her knees and there were still small trickles of blood swirling into the water and down the plug-hole. Lauren didn't look at him and he had been stood here for a good minute. After another minute he turned off the shower and knelt down in front of her and rested a hand on her shoulder._

_Lauren jumped as she felt Joe's hand. She looked at him but he seemed like a different person. But had he changed or had she? It felt like she had, but how had she? The lights in the room seemed so bright. The noise of the shower had been blocking out her thoughts but now they were all rushing back and it wasn't long before she felt tears falling down her face. Joe wrapped his arms around her, not seeming to care that he was getting soaked and held her as she cried. Life was supposed to mean something but those two people had just lost theirs in a few seconds._

_"Did the police say they'd identified them?"_

_"Not yet."_

_She nodded against Joe's chest before nuzzling into him. However she kept her eyes open, as lurking behind her closed lids were the green eyes of that woman. Lauren was shaking like a leaf and she clung to Joe like her life depended on it. Joe made soothing sounds and she felt him kiss the top of her wet head. Finally she sniffed slightly and looked up at him, she stared into his deep, blue eyes and felt herself calming a little. Joe was here to keep her safe and she did feel safe with him here, but something had changed, however she had no idea what._

_"Do the police want me to make a statement?"_

_She carried on looking at him as he jostled her. Lauren suddenly realised how soaked his shirt and jeans were. He'd turned the shower off but there had still been water in the tray. Finally she looked back into his eyes as he coughed._

_"They do, they wanted to come tonight but I said you needed time to get over the shock so we're going down tomorrow."_

_After thinking this over, Lauren nodded. She guessed she'd have to go in. They sat like that for a moment more before Joe slowly stood up and helped her to her feet. He handed her a towel before excusing himself back to the sitting room. Lauren wrapped the towel tightly around herself before padding over to the mirror and wiping away the thin layer of steam that still clung to it. She looked at herself in the mirror. Did her eyes seem darker? Did she really have such big bags under her eyes? She rubbed them before walking out and into Joe's bedroom._

_Joe looked up as Lauren shuffled into the room in a pair of sweats she kept at his apartment and one of his t-shirts. She walked straight over to him and curled up next to him. He put his arm around her and pulled her damp hair off her face. They sat in silence for a moment before Joe took a breath to speak._

_"Do you remember what the killer looked like?"_

_He felt Lauren shake her head against his chest and there was silence once again. The police really had been insistent about coming but once Joe had made the point that with the state she was in, she might not have given an accurate statement they had backed away. But she didn't remember what the killer looked like…so he was still out there. He squeezed Lauren to him and before long he heard her breathing deeply as she drifted off into sleep._

* * *

Joe blinked as his mind slowly came back into the room. Doctor Harrison was still slowly going through the photos with Lauren. He looked around at his friends and found them all to be staring through the window but from the look in their eyes, it was clear that like him, they weren't seeing the scene in front of them. If he could just put his arms around her one, last time. But it was too late for that now.

* * *

_A/N: Nice quiet chapter right? Am I forgiven yet? Probably not XD haha_

_BYE!_


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! So yeah I'm updating :o argh! I hope you like it, it is almost over now :'( but NOT RIGHT YET!_

_The Author in the TARDIS: Aww! :'( and not many now._

_AllThatIWant: Haha and aww thanks :') and yeah, I just imagine that's how it would go :D_

_PotterFanatic: *pats head*_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: I know! They have to let him see her! :'( and aww haha XD_

_1katiemariee: I'm sorry! :'( huggles! And everything that isn't in italics in this is real._

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: I'm sorry! :'( and I just felt it had to go this way_

_TearsOfaClown: Argh! I'm sorry!_

_Beffax3: Argh! :'( and hahah XD_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: I know :'( and yeah he needs her too and she killed everyone that has died in the story._

_Guest: I'm sorry!_

_StarkidBecca: Forgive me! XD and he is! XD Hehehe_

_HarryPotterAlways11: Sorry!_

_sami-sam99: I know :'(_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Awww *picks up feels and holds them out to you*_

_LivTheStarKid: Aww thank you! Hahaha and sorry this was so long!_

_starkidllamas-llama: Yes! Hehe :D_

_Fireflies-glow1: Aww and oh I'm sorry! XD_

_dance-sing-live: Yeah, I feel so bad writing it now…_

_Vuraangreg: Thanks and yeah haha just wait and see…_

_make-love-happen: Haha sorry this took so long!_

_Guest: Bahahaha XD_

_ohmyrowling13: I know! :'(_

_BabyUrNotAlone: Haha my friend and I were just talking about it and we realised she had to be XD and yay! Haha XD_

_Guest: Aww thank you! And she was…_

_I do not own the characters they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Lauren gazed at all the pictures in front of her and tried to think straight but so many thoughts were racing through her mind. They were images of scenes but these scenes couldn't be actual memories could they? Her eyes stopped on the picture of Denise and suddenly she gasped as her eyes widened.

* * *

She banged on the door and paced up and down the corridor. Lauren felt so strange, it felt like her heart was racing. Something bad was going to happen but why had she come here? Finally she turned back to the door as Denise opened it.

"Lauren what are you doing here?"

"They're coming!"

She pushed past Denise and into the apartment. Something bad was going to happen to Denise but what? Lauren paced around the apartment and finally came to a stop in the sitting room, this was the room, this would be where the bad thing would happen. After a moment Denise slowly came into the room, Lauren slowly turned and looked at her. Her breathing was almost ragged, it felt like her heart was racing and there was a fog forming in her head. And then it hit her, they were going to kill Denise.

"Denise, they're coming for you!"

"Who are?"

"The killers!"

Denise slowly walked towards Lauren. The killers? But the police were only looking for one person, why did Lauren think there was more than one? And Jeff was the only suspect, although she didn't believe it was him but why was Lauren so scared. She stepped forward and took Lauren's hands.

"Lauren, who are the killers?"

"They're coming and they're gonna kill you!"

She blinked and opened and closed her mouth a few times but couldn't think of anything to say. Lauren was crying now and Denise could feel her shaking. Denise had no idea what was going on but Lauren seemed terrified. Suddenly Lauren was pulling away from her and sitting down on the floor. She watched as she started rocking back and forth. There was something very wrong here. Finally she knelt down so she was level with Lauren.

"No one is coming Lauren, everything's fine."

She tried to smile as Lauren slowly looked up at her. Her eyes were wide and staring but there was something else in them. They looked almost darker and as she gazed into them a shiver went down Denise's spine. Something made her move backwards as Lauren came closer. There was something about that stare, something that wasn't Lauren, it was something else. Tears were still falling down Lauren's face and her whole body was still shaking but Denise suddenly felt so uneasy.

"Denise I don't want you to die."

"And I'm not going to. We'll just sit here and watch a movie and then you'll see that everything is okay."

Lauren sniffed and looked up at Denise. Denise was being so calm and her words should be soothing her but they weren't and she was scared. Why did she feel so scared? Her stomach was churning and her throat was tightening. And then it felt like something in her mind clicked. In a flash she had crossed the distance between her and Denise and pushed her down.

"I'm sorry…"

It felt like she couldn't control her hands as they closed around Denise's neck. Lauren looked into her wide blue eyes and found they were full of fear but she couldn't stop. Just like she hadn't been able to stop with the others. Tears fell down her face as she listened to Denise gasp for breath but it felt like her mind had split in two. One part was screaming at her to stop as she was killing her friend but another part was egging her to carry on and that part was the one in control of her limbs. Suddenly she looked to her side as she noticed something out of the corner of her eye and a second later Denise's fist connected with her cheek.

Denise gasped for breath as Lauren rolled off her. She rolled onto her stomach and tried to pull herself up. What the hell was Lauren doing? There had been such a coldness in her eyes and Denise hadn't know she was that strong. Her throat was burning and she coughed and spluttered as oxygen flooded into her lungs.

"What…are you…doing?"

She rubbed her neck as she watched Lauren slowly pulled herself up off the floor. Lauren finally looked up and stared at her, her cheek was already turning at deep red from where Denise had punched her and there were still tears in her eyes. Denise closed her eyes and coughed again but this temporary lapse in concentration was all Lauren needed and suddenly Denise was falling backwards as Lauren launched herself at her. She winced as Lauren pinned her arms down with her knees, they stared at each other. Lauren seemed unsure of what to do now and Denise watched as she sat back for a moment. She squirmed under her but Lauren seemed to gain weight and push her down and then Lauren's hand caught her pocket.

"Lauren you don't have to do this."

She stumbled over the words as Lauren slowly pulled a ball of plastic string out of her pocket. Had she been planning this? Lauren seemed surprised to have found the string but quickly found a use for it as she unravelled it and slipped it around Denise's neck.

"Lauren…"

Lauren stared into Denise's eyes and fresh tears fell down her face. It felt like there was a war going on in her head but there was some part of her mind telling her that she was helping Denise, because the killers were coming for her.

"Denise the killers are coming and they'll kill you and I can't let that happen."

She whispered the words and then slowly tightened the string…

* * *

Lauren watched as Denise's eyes became vacant and she let out a final breath. She stared down at her and suddenly she was stumbling backwards. What had she done? She couldn't have done this. No. Lauren slowly shook her head and in the next second she was running. She had to get away from this apartment, from what she had done. No, she hadn't done anything. This thought ran through her mind over and over as she ran and soon it was all she could think.

She blinked as her phone started ringing. Lauren looked around her and frowned. She was sat on a bench in the park, how had she gotten here? Suddenly she remembered her phone and fished it out of her bag.

"Hello?"

"Lauren! Where the hell are you? We were supposed to meet to go shopping an hour ago!"

How had she forgotten about meeting Meredith? What had she been doing to mean she was so late? Lauren slowly stood up and started walking. Had she just aimlessly walked into the park, she felt so funny. Try as she might she couldn't remember what she had done this morning. All she remembered was leaving her apartment this morning and then sitting on the bench.

"I'm sorry Mere, I'm coming now."

"You better be! And you better have a good explanation!"

* * *

Lauren closed her eyes as her head came back into the room. She could hear Doctor Harrison calling her name but she sounded so far away. Had that been a memory or a dream? A sickening feeling went through her, it felt very much like a memory, she could remember the smell of the park and the gentle wind and she could remember that awful sound as Denise had gasped for breath. No. She hadn't killed them, she HADN'T. Then why did it feel like she had.

"I want to go back to my room."

"The session isn't…"

"I WANT TO GO BACK TO MY ROOM!"

She even made herself jump as she screamed the words. Doctor Harrison nodded before slowly standing up. Lauren could feel herself shaking and she was gulping in air as if she had just run a marathon. She hadn't killed them, she couldn't have killed them, could she? The two men dressed in white moved forward and pulled her to her feet. They left the room and started walking and were finally back in her cell. The men uncuffed her before leaving the room. Lauren curled up in a ball in the corner of the room and didn't try and stop her tears.

"I didn't kill them."

"_But you did."_

"I didn't!"

"_You're lying."_

Jaime folded her arms as they all watched the CCTV monitor. She glanced round as Doctor Harrison came into the room. They all looked back at the monitor, it had audio so they could hear what Lauren was saying.

"She talks to herself a lot and it often seems to be in answer to some internal argument."

She didn't look at Doctor Harrison as she spoke. They couldn't go on like this, Jaime just wanted their Lo back. She wanted everyone back and for everything to go back to the way it had been. But she knew that was impossible. Suddenly she looked around as someone pushed past her and out of the room. Joe. Jaime raced after him and caught him in the hallway.

"Joe, you can't leave. Lo needs you."

"What can I do for her? I might as well be dead for all she cares."

She watched as he sat down on a bench and put his head in his hands. After a moment Jaime slowly sat down next to him.

"Our Lo is in there Joe."

"But that doesn't take away from what she did."

Jaime looked away as he said this. He was right. They could do everything possible but she would always be a serial killer and that would never change.

"I just want to hold her again…"

* * *

_A/N: I hope you liked it!_

_Also in May I'm meeting Lauren, Denise, Meredith, Joe W, Brian H, Dylan and Joey at a convention…hahahahahaahaha *dies*_

_BYE!_


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: Hey guys! So this is the second to last chapter! :'( thank you so much to everyone who has read and reviewed and cried and shouted at me…I love you! XD_

_Oh and also…although I'm so excited to meet them, due to writing this I will either cry and scream 'I'm sorry' at them or just scream and run :L_

_Starkidtheatregeek: I know! And I changed it last minute, it was going to be 'I just want to see her' but I thought hug was better :')_

_starkidllamas-llama: WELL NOW YOU CAN FIND OUT! And hehe I'm so excited but nervous XD_

_PotterFanatic: *packs you in suitcase* but what if he has…and oo hehe thanks!_

_Beffax3: Yeah haha well that's what she thought but she was the only killer_

_: Yep! And yeah! Hehe and ooo I wonder what will happen…_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Yeah it kinda is as that's why she was talking to herself._

_HarryPotterAlways11: She does!_

_TotallyAwesome2727: I know! :'(_

_AllThatIWant: Yeah :'( and haha no…I once had a dream that Brian emailed me and said 'we know about the fanfiction' and I woke up terrified XD_

_SingerWriterActressFanfics: I'm trying but it's hard :/ and thanks!_

_BRO: What Bro?!_

_LivTheStarKid: I'm sorry! And this chapter is bad…I'm sorry! :'( and DON'T HUNT ME DOWN! O_o and aww no! That sucks!_

_Dapper Dino: Oh my god…haha you are gonna have to be my guide as I'm scared to meet her now XD_

_Guest: Erm…thanks?_

_TearsOfaClown: I'm sorry! :'(_

_pottermore2917: No more dreaming I'm afraid :'(_

_dance-sing-live: Ahh cool! I've met Denise, Meredith and Joe before but that was pre-fic and hahaha! Even if they said 'we want Don'tForgetTheNotes to write the next musical' I would still refuse to say it was me XD_

_BabyUrNotAlone: I'm so sorry! :'( and Inva3ion! Check it out!_

_Emzabug: Argh! :') and thanks I actually can't XD_

_Vuraangreg: I know and I don't think very good…and aww haha :')_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

Jaime walked into the sitting room and sat down with a sigh, she glanced a greeting at Meredith before staring at the TV. She and Meredith lived together now. It had seemed like the best thing to do and Jaime liked it as it meant she didn't have to sit in this apartment all alone. It had been two weeks since Lauren had had the break through and demanded she go back to her room. Doctor Harrison said she was improving and they were slowly helping her remember but as they'd feared, she wasn't taking the realisation very well. Often she refused to take her medication and it had gotten so bad that today they had sedated her. They were meant to have gone to visit her today but since she wasn't unconscious, the visit had been cancelled.

Lauren wasn't the only person Jaime was worried about, they had barely seen Joe in the two weeks. He was spending so much time just shut in his apartment and it really wasn't healthy. Jaime had tried inviting him over but he refused and it broke Jaime's heart as she admitted to himself that one, he was coping and two, he was refusing their help.

The state they were living in now was almost worse than when they had been in fear of their lives. How long could they go on like this…it felt like they were just waiting, but for what?

* * *

Joe took a deep breath as the buzzer let him into the centre. A nurse came to meet him and glanced around her before looking at him.

"Come on, there's no doctor on duty but they can come at any moment."

He nodded and followed the nurse through the security checks and then into the heart of the centre. The nurse was putting her job on the line for him but he was grateful she was, he needed to see Lauren. Luckily, they didn't meet anyone as they walked and soon they were outside Lauren's cell. The nurse swiped a card and the door opened.

"I've sent all the other nurses on errands so I'm the only one watching the cameras. I'll come back when your time is up."

And with that she pulled the door open all of the way and pushed Joe inside. Joe took a deep breath as he looked down at Lauren. She was lying on her side and her hair had fallen over her face. A second later Joe sat down on the floor and pulled her onto his lap. He pulled her hair off her face and gazed down at her. This was the start of the plan, the plan he had hatched and the reason why the nurse had let him in because she was in on it.

"Don't worry Lolo, there's not long left now."

He told her the plan, although she was sedated. Joe felt like he was busting Lauren out of prison. He stroked her cheek carefully and smiled slightly. Their lives had become hell and he was holding the killer in his arms and yet he felt slightly excited that he was finally able to hold her again, after so long. He had a long day ahead of him and so many parts could go wrong but in that moment, he was happy to just sit like this and pretend Lauren had simply fallen asleep on him.

* * *

"Your time's up."

Joe's breath shuddered as the nurse spoke from the doorway. It hadn't been long enough. He hadn't told her everything he'd wanted to. With a sigh he looked back down at her, she'd always looked so cute when she was asleep. Joe carefully tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and tried to hold back his tears. He might never get this opportunity again and with what he was planning, he probably wouldn't.

"Come on, the sedation will be wearing off soon."

He glanced back up at her before looking back at Lauren. Finally he pulled her up to him and kissed her on the forehead before carefully placing her back on the ground. However just as he was removing his hands…her eyes fluttered.

"MOVE."

The nurse had stepped into the room and was attacking as if Lauren was a lion that was slowly waking up. Joe slowly stood up but the movement caused Lauren's eyes to open. She stared at him sleepily and suddenly her eyes widened.

"Joe?"

Lauren couldn't believe he was there. She had been asking to see him for weeks but they said they couldn't trust her around him, not after she had accused him for so long. The nurse was pulling him from the room but she didn't want him to go. Lauren stood up and raised her hand but in the next second the nurse had pulled him out and pressed the panic alarm. Within seconds there were people flooding into the cell and restraining her.

"NO!"

She thrashed against them. She had to tell Joe she was sorry. How had she accused him? Lauren loved him. Suddenly she noticed one of them had a needle and were coming towards her, they were going to sedate her again. But Joe had to know! However in the next second she felt that familiar pinprick of pain and then everything became hazy.

Joe watched as everyone slowly came out of the room and the door was shut. It seemed no one had noticed him in the panic and the nurse had pulled him down the corridor. He looked down at her as she stared up at him, she looked stressed and her eyes kept darting around.

"She'll be out cold until about 7pm and then we'll give her, her nightly medication at 8o'clock."

He nodded and then followed her as she darted down the corridor. Joe made it out without anyone seeing him and took a deep breath. He hadn't thought Lauren would wake up, she wasn't supposed to have woken. For some reason it made what he was going to do harder…but he couldn't back out now. Joe had come too far for that.

* * *

Joe took another sip of beer before pulling out his phone. The lock screen was a picture of him and Lauren, it had been taken so long ago, it was the last time they had been together before everything had happened. He had ones from after she'd seen the double homicide but he didn't like to look at them as that wasn't his Lo. Joe carried on looking at it as he downed the rest of the bottle and smashed it down on the table next to the other four. He'd drunk a lot and was slowly starting to feel the effects but it still wasn't enough, not for what he was going to do.

After a moment he stood up and walked into the kitchen. He swayed slightly as he walked but he made it and pulled open the fridge; Joe pulled out more beer bottles and put them on the counter. The bottles clashed together as he put them and he quickly picked up one and opened it. He took a long swig before leaning against the counter. Could he really do this? It was too late to back out now. He checked the clock on his phone and took a deep breath, it was 7:30pm, he had half an hour. A small bead of sweat rolled down his face, he was nervous. The whole thing had to go exactly according to plan or the repercussions would be devastating. Joe took another swig of his beer and pulled a hand through his hair. There was no use in wasting time so with a deep breath, Joe picked up the other beers and headed out of the apartment.

He made it down to his car and clambered into the driver's seat. Joe threw the other bottles onto the passenger seat before gripping the wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. This was the right thing to do and it was the only way they could be together. But what if it didn't work? Or worse still what if it only half worked? Joe took a sip from the bottle that was still in hand before starting the car.

* * *

Lauren looked up as the door opened, however she looked away as she saw it was just a nurse. The nurse was holding out a tray to her and after a moment Lauren slowly sat up and took the small cup filled with pills and the plastic cup of water. She hated taking the tablets. The doctors said they were to keep her mood swings from being too extreme and stopped her other supposed personalities from making an appearance. Lauren thought this was a load of bullshit, she didn't need pills but refusing to take pills meant they'd sedate you and she refused to let that happen again. She took each pill one at a time with a sip of water in between. The pills tasted different…they normally tasted sweet as they were sugar-coated but tonight they tastes different. Lauren couldn't put her finger on what it was. She slowly looked up at the nurse and found she was staring at her intently.

"Will you be needing anything else Lauren?"

She slowly shook her head and put the two cups back on the tray and watched the nurse quickly leave the room. Lauren shuffled back against the wall and lay down on her side. All of a sudden she felt so queasy. There was a pain forming in her stomach and she rubbed her hand across it. This didn't normally happen after she took her pills. Lauren tried to sit up but there was suddenly a throbbing pain in her head. What was happening? She was finding it hard to catch her breath, she couldn't breathe. Lauren crawled into the middle of the room before collapsing onto her stomach. Why wasn't anyone coming? Someone was always watching the cameras, someone always came within a few minutes but there was no one. She rolled onto her back and stared around the room. Her breath was coming in short squeaks and it was starting to hurt her lungs.

Finally she heard a door banging open but it seemed so far away. Suddenly there were people stood over her but Lauren could barely see them as her vision was slowly blurring. It felt like her stomach was on fire. After a long moment she finally found her voice and let out a scream. She tried to roll onto her side and curl up into a ball but one of the nurses stopped her and held her on her back.

"Get Doctor Harrison!"

There were running footsteps but Lauren felt like there was a thick fog in her head. Her stomach was churning and she felt like she was going to throw up. Lauren felt so weak and opened her eyes as the nurse who was holding her down spoke.

"What medication is she on?"

Lauren rolled her head to the side as the nurse who had given her, her tablets read the names off a clipboard. The nurse looked so pale and Lauren noticed her hands were shaking, had she done this? Waves of unconsciousness were washing over her and it was become harder and harder to keep her eyes open. Was she dying? Her eyes flickered slightly as someone else knelt down next to her.

"Lauren, it's Doctor Harrison, I need you to try and tell us what's happened."

She tried to open her mouth but she could barely breathe. He throat seemed to have closed up completely. Doctor Harrison leant forward and wiped her brow and for the first time Lauren was aware of how clammy her forehead was. There was chaos all around her and suddenly she was being picked up and carried out of her cell. They laid her down out in the corridor and Doctor Harrison pulled out a stethoscope and checked her heartbeat.

"Her heart is racing."

Lauren whimpered slightly, she wouldn't be able to stay conscious for much longer and a tear fell down her face as she tried and failed to gasp for breath. Suddenly Doctor Harrison was right over her and stroked her cheek.

"Don't worry sweetie, we just need to find out what's wrong and then we can help you."

She nodded slowly but Lauren could feel jolts in her legs and arms and then her eyes rolled back into her head as she slipped into unconsciousness and started fitting.

* * *

Joe speeded along the mostly empty street; he was in a shady part of town so there weren't many people around. He put the beer bottle to his lips and found it to be empty so threw it into the passenger foot well. He pulled out his phone from his pocket, not even bothering that the car swerved and dialled a number.

"Hello?"

"Hi Jaime."

"Joe where are you? Daniel said you went to visit Lauren."

"Yeah. I went to say goodbye."

Jaime sat up as Joe said this. Say goodbye? What did he mean? She got up and walked into the sitting room where Meredith was. Meredith looked up at her and seemed to know instantly that something was wrong. Joe sounded like he was driving, what was he doing?

"Why did you go and say goodbye?"

"Because there's nothing left Jaime, don't you see that? It's over."

"No Joe it's not. We're all still here and as long as we are it's never over."

Her voice was rushed as she spoke. She was getting a horrible feeling that Joe was going to do something stupid and they had to stop him. Jaime paced around the room as she waited for Joe to answer and when he finally did her blood ran cold.

"How fast do you think you have to be going?"

"For what?"

She came to a sudden stop and put the call on speaker so Meredith could hear. Her heart skipped as Joe laughed slightly.

"I would have thought this would be the easy part, but I didn't think to look at how fast you have to be going for the crash to do any damage."

"Joe, what are you doing?"

Joe shook his head slightly. Why had he called them? They would just try and stop him but it was really too late now, it was 8:19pm…the first part of the plan would already have taken place. He finally reached a long stretch of road and pulled over to the side of the street. He knew why he had called them and it was time to fulfil that reason.

"Jaime I called to say goodbye."

"What? No Joe, just come over to the apartment and we can-"

"No Jaime, it's too late for that."

He gazed out of the windscreen as he heard Jaime talking to someone on the other end of the line. Joe guessed it was Meredith and that they were rallying everyone together to come out and find him but they were too late.

"Joe if I can't get you to listen then think of this before you do anything stupid, Lo needs you. You can't leave her."

He took a deep breath. This was the thing he had been most nervous about because if the whole thing went completely to plan…he wouldn't be leaving Lauren. Now was the time to tell Jaime what he had done as even if she knew, there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"I won't be leaving her. If everything goes to plan, she'll be coming with me."

"Joe what have you done?"

"I paid off one of the nurse's to slip her cyanide when she gave her, her evening dose of medication. Depending on the dosage, she could already be dead."

"WHAT?"

Meredith gasped as she heard Joe speak. He had paid someone to poison Lauren? They had to check she was okay! However as Meredith ran to grab her phone so she could called the centre, she found her phone was already ringing. Jaime was near enough screaming at Joe to try and stop him. Meredith took a deep breath before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hello Miss Stepien, this is Doctor Harrison. Lauren's having a horrific reaction to something, we're trying to stabilise her but I think you and Miss Beatty need to come down here immediately."

She clamped a hand over her mouth. Oh god. Joe really had poisoned Lauren and now it was killing her. Meredith blinked and took a deep breath. They knew what was wrong with Lauren and maybe if Doctor Harrison and the other medical staff knew they would be able to help her.

"It's cyanide. She's been poisoned with cyanide."

"That's impossible, there is no way she would come into contact with a substance like that."

"Joe's confessing to us right now. He's paid off one of the nurse to give it to her."

There was silence on the other end of the line and then Meredith heard Doctor Harrison shouting instructions. Meredith glanced up at Jaime and found she had started crying as she pleaded with Joe. This couldn't be happening, not again. So many of their friends were already dead…and now Joe had sealed Lauren's fate too. Why? Lauren had killed because she hadn't known what she had been doing but Joe had purposely done this and now what was he going to do?

"Doctor Harrison? Is Lauren going to be okay?"

She heard Doctor Harrison take a deep breath and Meredith closed her eyes. Before she even spoke Meredith knew that it was bad.

"We don't know how much she's ingested but if it's big enough, she'll go into cardiac arrest and we most likely won't be able to re-start her heart."

Before Meredith could answer, she heard a beeping on Doctor Harrison's end of the line. It sounded like something flat lining, Lauren flat lining.

"I'm sorry, I need to go."

And without another word, the line went dead. Meredith slowly took the phone from her ear and stared into space. There was little chance of restarting her heart…Lauren could already be dead. She looked back at Jaime and saw she was staring at her.

"Doctor Harrison put the phone down on me, just as I heard something flat line."

Joe's heart skipped a beat as he heard Meredith spoke over the phone. So the first part was complete or as good as complete. Now he had to go through with the second part.

"Bye guys."

"Joe, please."

He disconnected the call and threw his phone onto the passenger seat. It started ringing again almost instantly but he didn't look at it as he pulled the car back out into the middle of the street and started picking up speed. This was a long road. He was now well over the speed limit and he still had a good stretch left. This all felt like a dream…just a bad dream and what did you have to do to end a dream? Wake up. Whether it was because he felt so hopeless but it felt like doing this he was waking himself up. He'd already woken Lauren up so now it was his turn.

The speed dial was as far over as it would go and as the metal barrier at the end of the street came closer and closer Joe slowly closes his eyes. This was it. Over the past few months his life had been ripped apart, he'd lost the people he loved and ever since it had felt like they had been left behind but in a few moments it would all be over.

The barrier came closer and Joe didn't slow down. And then finally, after what seemed like an age…his car smashed into it…and everything went black.

* * *

_A/N: Yeah...bye! *hides*_


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N: Okay so this is quite a quiet but heavy feels chapter and also...there will be one more chapter!_

_AllThatIWant: Aww haha_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Aww I'm sorry :'(_

_PootterFanatic: Oh my gosh thank you! Huggles!_

_Guest: I'm sorry!_

_TearsOfaClown: Sorry! *hugs*_

_Fireflies-glow1: Okay so I see you're upset but argh...I'm sorry_

_TotallyAwesome2727: Okay :'( *sits in corner*_

_starkidllamas-llama: Nooo! DON'T CRY!_

_pottermore2917: I'm sorry for upsetting you!_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: o_O oh my god_

_make-love-happen: Yeah...haha but those were dreams! And ohhh...and it's almost done!_

_Liliana-the-frog: Aww! Thank you! And no! StarKid must never know...if my whole profile suddenly shuts down you know what's happened XD_

_Dapper Dino: :'(_

_dance-sing-live: I'm sorry! But I kinda like it...what_

_HarryPotterAlways11: I'm sorry! And this reminded me of something but I can't quite think what XD_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Because he loves her._

_StarkidBecca: Okay Becca so you seem a little bad but come on! We can talk through this! *runs*_

_sami-sam99: I'm sorry! I can just write sad better :'( and yeah I'm worried about Meredith and Jaime but they can move to LA so they won't be all alone._

_Beffax3: o_O you go eat that Hershey bar...and maybe keep it for this one._

_The Author in the TARDIS: Sorry!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Jaime stared into space as they waited in the hospital waiting room. This couldn't be happening. Joe couldn't have done this…but he had and now here they were, in a hospital again waiting to hear news on their friends. Lauren's heart had stopped and they had somehow managed to restart it but they weren't hopeful that she would wake up. It had taken them a while to find Joe but finally an EMT team had reached him and brought him in, he was in a bad way. The last update they'd received was that he was in a coma and they said the chances of him waking up where slim to none. Both of them were only still alive because doctors were keeping them alive through machines. If they switched off the life support machines, they would both die.

"Did Lauren's parents say they'd set off?"

"Yeah, they said they were just going to call Lauren's brother and then hit the road."

She glanced at Meredith as she nodded slowly and then there was silence again. Jaime looked around the room at their other friends; there was Corey, Matt, Jim, Daniel and Eric and that was it. There was no one else left. Joey, Devin, Lily, Brian R, Joe M and even Darren were on a flight from LA but there were still hardly any of them left anymore. It was like they were becoming extinct. What made it worse was that everyone wasn't coming in the hopes they would receive good news on Lauren and Joe because there wasn't any. Everyone was coming to say goodbye. Lauren's parents were driving over and Joe's parents were currently on a plane because their children weren't going to wake up. The doctors were willing to wait until they arrived but then the machines would be switched off…and with it they would lose two more of their friends.

This thought hit Jaime hard and in the next second she had jumped out of her chair and was storming out of the room. No one shouted after her, they had all learned to just not ask questions anymore. Jaime walked through the aimless corridors and finally found herself outside Lauren's room. There were guards manning the door but they recognised her and let her in. She slowly walked up to Lauren's bedside and sat down in a chair. She stared down at her for a moment before taking her hand. Lauren's skin had a slight blue tinge to it which the doctors said was an effect of the cyanide. Jaime took a deep breath, should she speak? She wanted to.

"Hey Lo, you probably can't hear me but I'm here for you. Everyone's on their way."

The cyanide had been slipped to her by the nurse who'd given her, her medication. In the chaos that had ensued after Lauren had been poisoned she had managed to slip away without detection. The police were out looking for her but it was like she had disappeared, along with all the savings Joe had had. Joe had given her everything to get her to poison Lauren. She had ingested a lot, it seemed the nurse had soaked her tablets in it and they'd even found traces of it in the water she'd drank to take her tablets. Jaime traced small circles on her friend's hand and sniffed as her vision blurred with tears.

"I'm sorry I didn't notice anything was wrong."

Jaime did blame herself, she couldn't have done anything and she knew that but still are part of her strived to find one small thing she could have done differently that would have meant this would have never have happened. There had been times, times where Lauren had just disappeared for the whole day and then finally turned up at the apartment. When they'd asked her where she'd gone she'd always said 'somewhere'. She and Julia had just thought it was her way of coping with what she had seen. Looking back Lauren was the one person who was never accounted for when something had happened but they had never stopped to think it could possibly be her. They had failed her and now they had failed her again.

"And we should have kept a closer eye on Joe too, but I guess it's too late to take about what could have been."

She sighed and wiped away the tears that were falling down her face. Soon it would all be over but that made it so final, but it was final. It was the end. Their friends were gone and Jaime and the others who were left were lucky to be alive but to her, it felt like they had been left behind...

* * *

Lauren opened her eyes and slowly sat up. There was a blinding light above her and she jumped as she realised the floor she was sat on was see-through; it was like a pane of glass. What was she doing here? How had she gotten here? She gazed through the glass and came closer as she realised there was a room before her. The glass was tinged a dark blue but she could still see through. Below her was what appeared to be a hospital room, and there were people in it. Two girls, one in the bed and one sat on a chair next to it.

"Hey!"

She banged on the glass but the people in the room didn't seem to be able to hear her. Lauren thought that was odd as it was only glass wasn't it? However her stomach dropped as she realised who the people in the room were. It was Jaime and her. Jaime was in the chair and she...she was in the bed. And then Lauren remembered...she remembered being in her cell and the sudden, horrific pains as it had felt like something was tearing apart her stomach and then everything going black. She wasn't in pain anymore but that thought scared her. Was...was she dead? Lauren brought her face right to the glass and looking through, she could see she was on a life support machine but from the way Jaime was silently crying, Lauren guessed this life support wasn't a good sign.

"It's been too long Lolo."

The sudden voice behind her made her jump and she whipped around to see who the voice belonged to. It was Julia. Lauren's eyes widened as she took in her friend. How could she be here? Julia smiled slightly before pulled her into a hug. They sat like that for a while and Julia rubbed Lauren's back.

"Am I dead Juls?"

"Not quite, they're just waiting for your parents to come."

"My parents?"

"They want to say goodbye too."

Julia felt Lauren slowly nod against her. Slowly, she started to stroke Lauren's hair. She didn't blame Lauren for her death, none of them did. The Lauren that had killed her hadn't been the Lauren she had met in college, the Lauren she had come to call her best friend. After months and months, this would soon be finally, over. And the healing could finally begin.

"Do you remember what happened now?"

She felt Lauren tense slightly so she guessed she did. That had been one of the hardest points, seeing Lauren do everything she had done but not know what she was doing. But that didn't matter now, nothing mattered now. They both looked through the glass as Jaime spoke.

"That night, when we finally realised it was you, I still can't quite believe it."

Jaime had relived that night so often over the past few months. It was everywhere, in her nightmares, in her daydreams if she let her mind wonder too far. She closed her eyes as the flashback it and let it overcome her.

_Jaime froze as she heard the gun fire out. It had been followed by a loud thud. She slowly looked at Meredith and saw her eyes were wide with terror too. They had already called the others and they were on their way but they might be too late. Jaime took a deep breath before pulling Meredith slowly down the rest of the hallway and into the kitchen. They came in just as Lauren pulled the knife out from her stomach._

_"Lauren!"_

_She screamed Lauren's name and watched as she fell to the ground. Jaime rushed forward and knelt by her friend. What had she done? What had Lauren done? Meredith was busy checking Brian and Joe but Jaime could only see Lauren._

_"I did it Jaime...I ki...I killed the killers."_

_Her breathing was almost ragged as she stared down had Lauren. Meredith was screaming as it seemed Brian was dead. Lauren had shot him. Where the hell had she gotten a gun from? And where did she think they had been the killers?_

_"Lauren, what have you done?"_

_She couldn't think of anything else to say. Jaime watched as Lauren's face fell slightly as if she was confused by Jaime's question. There was blood everywhere and Jaime panicked as Lauren's eyes slowly started to close. Jaime gently tapped her face so her eyes would open._

_"Why Lauren? Why?"_

_Meredith pulled Jaime back as she grabbed Lauren shirt and started shaking her. They had to keep calm, they didn't know why Lauren had done this. Surely they had to be so reason behind it. She screamed as suddenly Joe groaned. He was still alive! Meredith rushed over to him as he tried to sit up._

_"Stay down Joe, help's on it way."_

_She glanced at Joe's back, he'd been stabbed in it. The wound looked bad but Meredith had no medical experience so didn't want to look any further._

_"It's Lauren...the killer's Lauren."_

_Joe dragged his face to the side and looked at Lauren. She was on the floor too and staring back at him, her eyes wide with fear. How could she have done this? Brian, Dylan and him had all come over when they'd received a text from Jaime that had just said 'Lauren'. Joe had instantly been worried and had rushed over and brought the others with him. He had thought the killer was going after Lauren but when they had arrived, they had found Meredith drugged and Jaime knocked out in the sitting room. Lauren hadn't been there and it turned out she had know they were coming. She had hit Dylan over the head with a dumbbell and then snuck up behind him and stabbed him in the back. Joe guessed she had attacked Brian after that._

_There was the sound of a banging door and then running footsteps. However everything was slowly becoming hazy and Joe closed his eyes as he slipped into unconsciousness._

* * *

Jaime opened her eyes and shuddered. It still didn't seem real but it was real, this wasn't a movie. She looked up as the door slowly opened and Meredith came in.

"I thought you might be in here. Joe's parents' flight just got in."

She nodded before looking back at Lauren. With Joe's parents' being here it meant his time was almost up. They should probably go and see him. Jaime leant forward and kissed Lauren on the forehead, the only sound in the room was the gentle beep of the machines that Lauren was hooked up to. Finally she slowly stood up.

"We'll come back Lo, before...before the end."

Lauren clutched at Julia as she watched Meredith and Jaime leave the room. Before the end? She suddenly didn't want to die...but it was too late. Julia rubbed her back but a thought had suddenly come into Lauren's head. Meredith had spoken of Joe's parents, why were they coming? She slowly pulled back from Julia.

"Why are Joe's parents coming?"

"He's...he's in a between place too."

"What happened?"

She listened as Julia told her everything about what Joe had done. Lauren couldn't believe it, but she was kind of relived her had. Now she wasn't in that horrible cell and Julia was here. Now they were just waiting but it was a nice wait, she was ready for this. Although death was scary, it was something she was ready for. Although there was something she wanted to do.

"Where is Joe?"

"He's somewhere here, we can try and find him if you want."

She'd like that. As then they'd be together. Lauren remembered looking into Joe's eyes on the kitchen floor. They had been full of fear and confusion and in that moment it had felt like the walls in her mind had come crashing down. She had remembered what she had done, when she had woken up in hospital she hadn't but in the one moment, in the kitchen she had seen in and it had almost made her want to rip her mind apart.

"Can we do that?"

"We can try?"

Lauren and Julia slowly got to their feet and Julia slipped her hand into Lauren's. They started walking and as they did Lauren looked back over her shoulder at the blue glass. It was pitch black around them but oddly, she could see. Joe was close by and she could sense it but where was he? Finally, a figure came into view up ahead. As they drew closer the figure looked up and as their eyes found Lauren's, she stopped.

"Joe."

* * *

_A/N: So there will be one more chapter! But that one will be the end_

_BYE!_


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: Okay! This should have been the last chapter but it's not the next one will be so yeah this is the second to last chapter._

_TotallyAwesome2727: Yep! And we can all go together!_

_PotterFanatic: Aww hehe, you're too kind :')_

_starkidllamas-llama: Aww :'( I'm sorry_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: Seriously, wait for the last chapter._

_TearsOfaClown: Aww haha thanks XD_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Well I'm glad you read it!_

_sami-sam99: And another one! XD_

_pottermore2917: I know…and oh my gosh A4B was awesome right? XD_

_StarkidBecca: Wait and see! Because I think you are all going to love the ending_

_Guest: Hahaha XD_

_Fireflies-glow1: Aww thank you :') and yeah I can just picture them sat on this glass like really clearly :)_

_Beffax3: Keep eating!_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Yep! :D_

_dance-sing-live: Yeah and well the whole time she thought they were the killers but whenever she was sedated in her cell she had a whole flash back and yeah he poisoned her._

_Dapper Dino: Hahaha this XD_

_HarryPotter11: Sorry_

_The Author in the TARDIS: Aww :/_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Joe slowly got to his feet and walked towards Lauren. He stopped just before her and they stared at each other for a moment before he closed the distance between them and pulled her into a tight hug. She was here. It was almost over. Joe glanced up at Julia who was stood watching them with a smile on her face.

"Hey Julia."

"Hi Walker."

He pulled away from Lauren slightly and pulled her over to Julia. The three all hugged and Joe looked down at Lauren to see she was smiling. What he had done was wrong but now she was free from that cell and from what she had done. They could have stood like that for hours or only a few minutes he didn't know but then he was aware that someone else was hugging him. Joe turned and found he was face to face with Denise.

"Do we not get to join in on this hug fest?"

His mouth fell open in shock as he took her in. She was here too! Joe hugged her before Denise let go and almost floored Lauren in her hug. He smiled as he saw Lauren's surprised expression over Denise's shoulder. Suddenly there was a hand on his arm and he turned and saw Jeff and behind him, everyone else. Brian, Dylan, Nick S, Chris, Nick L and June all smiled at him as they came closer.

"Took you long enough."

He smiled at Brian before embracing him. Joe greeted the others before slowly looking back through the glass they were all stood on. Beneath the glass was his hospital room. The others were all looking through the glass too and after a moment they were all sitting down. Lauren came over to him and he looked down at her. She was staring up at him and her large, brown eyes were wide.

"Are we in the same hospital?"

"Yeah, I drove near to the hospital you were in, in the hopes they would take me there and they did."

Lauren smiled up at him before resting her head on his chest. He squeezed her for a moment before they sat down with the others. She looked around at the others and they all smiled back at her. They had forgiven her and that was what she had wanted more than anything. What she had done was unforgivable but it hadn't been her, well not the normal her and they saw that. She looked through the glass as people came into Joe's hospital room.

Jaime slipped her hand into Meredith's as they came in. Daniel, Corey, Matt and Eric were right behind them and they all sat or stood around the bed. She fiddled with the jacket sleeve as the silence in the room stretched out. Joe's parents were in a cab on the way from the airport. The LA StarKids were due in, in just over an hour and then they could all say goodbye. Seeing as Joe's parents would arrive first, he would be the first to be switched off. Finally she sighed and looked down at Joe, she understood why he had done what he had done but it didn't stop her from being angry at him. What he had done was so selfish, trying to take his own life was one thing but taking Lauren with him was totally out of order. Lauren hadn't asked to be poisoned; he had taken the choice out of her hands.

"Do you think he got what he wanted? For him and Lo to be together?"

She glanced at Meredith as she spoke quietly. That was something Jaime had been thinking too. Lauren and Joe were so close physically, they were literally just a few doors away but would they find each other? What did happen after death? Would they find the others? Jaime had thought about this a lot over the past few months. Did anything even happen after you died? Or did you just cease to exist?

They spent the rest of the time in silence because none of them really knew what to say. Jaime was sure that when the others arrived they would talk of memories and tell stories but right now they were just waiting. And there was nothing else to do except wait. It felt like they were reaching the end of a massive journey and when the end came, there was only uncertainty. Finally, they looked up as Joe's parents slowly came into the room. Jaime stood up and moved over to Joe's mother. They hugged before Joe's mom pulled away.

"How's Lauren?"

"She's pretty much the same as Joe now, they're waiting for her parents to arrive."

Meredith watched as Joe's mother slowly nodded before turning to look at her son. As she walked over to the bed, Meredith and the other StarKids all moved towards the door. Joe's mother sat down and took Joe's hand, she stared at him for a moment before bursting in tears. Joe's dad put his hand on his wife's shoulder and Meredith saw there were tears in his eyes. They all took this as their cue to leave the room.

"Do you guys want to go and get a drink?"

They all nodded as Corey spoke and slowly headed towards the cafeteria. Everyone looked so tired and worn out. Meredith felt like she was in a daze, this still felt like a dream. It had always felt like a dream, she guessed it was because what had happened had been so shocking that her mind just refused to believe it. She blinked as she realised that had made it to the cafeteria. The group found a table before Corey and Matt went to buy drinks for everyone. Meredith stared around the room as they waited. To say it was the early hours of the morning there were other people in the room. On a table close by was a man who was stirring his coffee whilst staring into space. She wondered what had brought him to the hospital. Further away was a girl who was trying and mostly failing to entertain what Meredith took to be her two younger brothers.

"Who wanted the milk no sugar?"

She looked up as Corey and Matt came back. They passed out the drinks but no one drank them. Time seemed to be passing so slowly, if Meredith hadn't been checking her watch every five minutes, she would have thought time had stopped completely. The door to the cafeteria opened and she did a double take as she saw their friends slowly walking in. They rushed over to them and in the next second they were all hugging and re-hugging.

Joey pulled Jaime and Meredith into a joint tight hug before pulling away. They both looked so drained. There were no smiles as the group all sat down together. When they had first arrived at the hospital they had gone to the floor where Lauren and Joe were but then they had been sent down here. He had almost been dreading arriving as them arriving meant that time was almost up. They would go up and say their goodbyes to Joe and then…then it would almost be his time. No one said anything as they all sat there. Joey looked up and found Darren was staring at him. He had his pink sunnies on his head like he always did but his face wasn't turned up into its normal smile. Glee had just let him leave and come with them and Joey was grateful they had, Darren deserved to say good bye to his friends too.

"Do you think we should go up?"

He sensed everyone freeze as he spoke. No one wanted to go because going up signalled the end and like him, none of them wanted it to come. However Joey felt a lump in his throat as the door opened and Joe's dad walked in. He spotted them instantly, they were the largest group in the room and slowly came over.

"Erm…you…you can come up now if you want."

He looked around at his friends as they all nodded and slowly got to their feet. After a moment Joey did the same and they all followed Joe's dad out of the cafeteria and towards the elevator. He looked to his side as Jaime slipped her hand into his. Joey looked down at her but she was staring straight ahead. Meredith was holding her other hand, this reminded him of the memorial service. He walked in a daze and was surprised when Jaime pulled him to a stop. They had arrived.

"Hello Mrs Walker."

Darren spoke as Joe's mom came out of the room. She nodded a hello before pulling him in to a tight hug. The hug didn't last long but as she pulled away, he saw fresh tears in her eyes.

"Thank you for coming, thank you to all of you."

He nodded as she looked around at them all. People smiled weakly at her and nodded. Mrs Walker smiled at them all before taking her husband's hand and setting off down the corridor. Darren watched them go before looking at his friends. Everyone seemed too scared to go in but they had to go in, so with a deep breath, he stepped forward and pushed open the door. They all walked in, there was a deathly silence in the room…well there was silence except for the beeping of the machines that were keeping Joe alive. His friend was in a bad way. Joe had a nasty gash over his left eye and there were dark bruises already forming down his arm. Darren smiled as a thought suddenly came into his head.

"Do you guys remember the first rehearsal of AVPM and Joe spent the whole time just messing around?"

People laughed slightly as they remembered. It seemed Darren had made them all relax as they all started talking about memories they had from college. Right here, right now, it didn't matter what Joe had done to end up here because they couldn't think of that…it was much easier to just remember all the happy memories they had. They talked for what seemed like hours, they laughed, and they cried…so many memories.

Joe smiled as he listened to his friends talk in the hospital room. He looked up and looked around at all his friends who were sat on the glass with his. They were telling their own stories and he listened as Brian recounted a funny story from MAMD. Lauren was leant against him and he played absentmindedly with a piece of her hair. In that moment, as they shared stories, both down in that hospital room and in this in-between place, they were all so connected. It was like he could sense them, the ones they would be leaving behind. Joe knew they weren't really leaving them behind, not really. His friends down below would be just fine.

"Do you think we'll feel anything?"

He looked down as Lauren spoke quietly. The others were too busy talking to hear her so Joe had time to think over what she had said. Would they feel anything? Everyone else had all died instantly; they hadn't been kept alive like he and Lauren were being. Joe knew he would go first as Lauren's parents still weren't here, he was glad he was going first so that after it was over, he would be able to tell her everything would be all right.

"I think it's time."

He looked up and saw Julia was looking through the glass. Joe looked down and saw his parents had come back into the room. This was it. Lauren slipped her hand into his and gave it an encouraging squeeze. Everyone on both sides had fallen silent as they all looked on. Joe took a deep breath as he watched his mother step forward and take his body's hand.

"Goodbye sweetie, we'll let you sleep now."

Jaime could feel herself shaking as Mrs Walker kissed her son's head before stepping back. Mr Walker stepped forward next and said a few words. And then it was the turn of the StarKids. Some people made little jokes that linked to memories and others just said goodbye. Joe really did look like he was sleeping, he looked like he'd been beaten up but he really could have just been asleep. Finally it was Jaime's turn and she took a deep breath before stepping forward.

"Bye Joe, look after everyone for me will you?"

She slowly stepped back and felt Meredith take her hand. They all moved back as a doctor and two nurses came in. This was it. Her heart felt like it was racing, she was scared, she didn't know why but she was. One of the nurses moved over to the life support machine, she locked eyes with the doctor. The doctor had been reading through the clip board on the end of Joe's bed but put it down as he looked round.

"Are you ready?"

He was talking to Joe's parents but Jaime still felt herself nodding. Joe's parents were crying but slowly nodded. They knew there was nothing that could be done for their son and the best thing they could do now was let him go. The doctor gave a nod to the nurse and then they all watched as she switched off the life support machine. An alarm sounded to signal the machine had been switched off…and then a moment later, the lines which had been monitoring heart beats flattened out…and that was it.

Denise took a deep breath and looked up at the others as black started to swirl through the glass they were looking through and then it blocked their view completely. There was no glass anymore…just a black floor. She turned and looked at Joe, he was still staring down at the ground, it seemed everyone was staying silent as they gave him a moment. Denise took the moment to the look up at the light that was above them. Although it was blinding to look into, its light didn't filter through to where they were. This in-between place felt like that white space that little kids would leave when drawing a picture, they would colour a strip of blue at the top for the sky and a strip of green at the bottom for the grass but for some reason they left that white gap.

"What should we do now?"

She looked up as Dylan spoke. What did they do now? They were all still here so she guessed that meant they had to wait for Lauren. Because Lauren was the missing piece and suddenly it all became clear to her, why they hadn't been able to 'move on'.

Denise felt like she was flying through the air and then suddenly landed with a thumb. The pressure on her head, it…it was gone. Where was Lauren? She suddenly opened her eyes as she heard moment close by and screamed as she saw she was face to face with herself…her dead self. There was more moment and she looked up to see Lauren scrambling back with a hand over her mouth.

"Lauren…"

She knew Lauren couldn't see her had spoken more out of shock than a need to hear an answer. Denise jumped as suddenly Lauren was dragging herself to her feet and running out of the apartment. What was she supposed to do? Go after Lauren and make sure she was all right or stay here? She looked down at her body, so this is what it felt like to be dead. Why was she still here? Weren't you supposed to go somewhere when you died? Or did you just walk around invisible for eternity?

Denise decided to stay in the apartment and wait for something to happen. However she couldn't stay in the sitting room, not with h-her body being in there so she sat against the wall in the hallway. Finally she looked up as she heard the door slowly opening and then she gasped as she saw it was Jeff. Seeing him made her crumble and she felt tears in her eyes. She'd never be able to hug him again and run her hands through his hair and feel the touch of his lips on her. And everyone already suspected him as being the killer…but it wasn't him! She stood up as he slowly walked past her, she wanted to hold out her hand and stopped him so that he wouldn't have to see but she couldn't.

She turned as she heard more voices and saw Meredith and Lauren were coming into the apartment too. Lauren looked like herself, she didn't have that look in her eye that Denise had seen when she had died…what was going on in Lauren's mind? However she didn't think any more as she heard Meredith scream. Denise followed them into the sitting room and found Jeff was cradling her body whilst Meredith was screaming on the floor. Lauren was crying too, really crying…like she didn't know that she had done this. Then she remembered that Lauren had sat she was protecting her from the killers.

But she had stilled killed her. Denise slowly walked forward and knelt down next to Jeff. There were tears in his eyes and he gently stroked her cheek. In that moment, Denise couldn't think about why Lauren could do this…she could only think that her boyfriend was now left alone, in a world where everyone thought he was a killer.

Denise blinked as she came out of her thoughts. She realised everyone was slowly standing up. Julia held a hand out for her and she took it and got to her feet. She looked at Lauren and after a moment, Lauren looked back at her. They had all been unable to move on as the identity of the real killer, Lauren had been unknown but then even after everyone knew, they had only ended up here. It was like Joe had always been intended to take both his and Lauren's lives and Denise and the others had to wait for them. And now there was only one more person left to make the leap.

Lauren led the way to where her glass was. She didn't know how but it was like it was calling to her and soon they were all looking down into her hospital room. They all sat down and Lauren snuggled back into Joe. He was dead now, just like the others but he didn't seem any different, well none of them seemed different. There was only her left with a link to the living world. She looked around at her friends. Denise was sat on Jeff's knee and their hands were clasped. Julia and June were sat next to them and both seemed intrigued at what was going on below them. Nick S was sat on Jeff's other side and was talking to Chris about nothing in particular. Next to them was Nick Lang who was commenting on the fact that no one seemed to have realised his brother had bought a new shirt. And then there was Dylan and Brian. Dylan was talking but Lauren knew Brian was listening; he was looking through the glass at Meredith.

"She'll be okay Bri."

She noticed Brian jump as he looked up at her and everyone else fell silent. Brian gave her a small nod before looking back down. Lauren watched him for a moment before looking through the glass herself. Her friends were all in the room and she watched as Meredith and Jaime sat on either side of her body and took her hands.

"Who's going to back us sweet treats now?"

Meredith tried to sound upbeat but she still stumbled over the words. They had already lost one of their friends today and now it was time for another one. Lauren's parents were almost here but Meredith didn't want to say goodbye but it was the best thing to do. It was selfish to keep Lauren here. She wasn't here anymore, not really. She looked up as Darren knelt down next to her and rubbed Lauren's arm.

"It was a pleasure to act alongside you Lolo."

She moved out of the way and stood with the others as Darren leant forward and kissed Lauren on the forehead. Darren stepped back and then Joey walked forward. The normally so happy person's face was solemn as he took Lauren's hand.

"You'll always be my singing buddy Lopez."

Joe looked down at Lauren as she suddenly burrowed her head into his chest. He could feel her whole body shaking with sobs and he tried to soothe her by rubbing her back. Everyone else was watching on in silence, unsure on what to do. Finally, he gently took her shoulders and pulled her up so she was looking at him. He was about to speak but she beat him to it.

"I don't want to die."

He looked into her deep, brown eyes as they shimmered with tears. The others were all slowly gathering round but Joe kept his eyes on hers.

"We can't stay Lo, it's not our place to anymore."

He stroked her cheek as she slowly nodded at him. Joe looked over her shoulder and found the others had all gathered round and were trying to reassure Lauren too.

"You won't feel anything Lo."

"And we're all here for you, you know that."

"We won't leave you, until you're ready to come with us."

He smiled as she slowly turned round and looked at all their friends. These were just last minute nerves. Suddenly they were all in a massive group hug and he glanced down to see Lauren was smiling.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Lopez."

Lauren looked down as she heard someone speak. Everyone slowly pulled out of the hug and looked down. She gasped as she saw her parents…it had been so long since she'd seen them. The StarKids down below filed out of the room to give her parents some privacy. She felt Joe's hand slip into hers as her mother started to cry. It seemed strange to be watching the scene. It seemed to go on forever, her parents didn't speak often and when they did it was mostly to her. And then finally, she took a deep breath as her dad stood up and walked over to the door. They were letting the StarKids back in.

"Can you feel that?"

She turned like everyone else and looked at June as she spoke. Feel what? June had sat up and was staying perfectly still as if she really could feel something.

"It's like a gentle pulling sensation, like something's tugging at me."

"I feel it too."

That was Nick S. What could they feel? Lauren looked down into the room as her friends came in. The others were all commenting on the tugging feeling, Lauren couldn't feel it. Could they feel it because it was almost the end? The goodbyes seemed to pass in a blur, it was too fast. And then the doctor and nurses came into the room.

"Are you ready?"

She tensed slightly as Joe whispered right in her ear. Lauren was ready; it felt like she was starting a new adventure. Leaving was heart breaking but like they'd said…she wasn't alone. She nodded before taking a deep breath as the doctor moved towards the life support machine. Three. Two. One and one little flick of a switch.

* * *

_A/N: Okay so I promise, the last chapter will be the final chapter and if it's not you can punch me in the face…_

_BYE!_


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N: So I promise, this really is the last chapter…really. Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed this over the past few weeks and months, it means SO much to me. Thank you to everyone who tweeted me and reviewed with your ideas and theories or just wanted to shout at me XD if you were someone who read every chapter but never reviewed, thank you to you! Just seeing that people actually want to read my work makes my little heart swell_

_StarkidPD: This is it I'm afraid :'( and sorry! And aww! You really think so? You are too kind :D_

_Dapper Dino: Bahaha! Silly Jenny's laptop! :D Don't call me a swine! You know you love me!_

_I-Wanna-Be-A-Starkid-Fangirl: Aww :'(_

_PotterFanatic: Aww haha and no I intended to end it a few chapters back but it kept going XD_

_dance-sing-live: It was always the same people who were dead and dream or reality they were dead._

_make-love-happen: Bahahaha XD and I did it that Denise was a ghost (you know in the dream where the picture was thrown? So there were connotations of it) they were all grounded because their killer hadn't been identified._

_starkidllamas-llama: Aww! I'm sorry! :'(_

_sami-sam99: What up dude?_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Aww hehe :') and aww well all good things come to an end :'( but it has been totally awesome hehe_

_HarryPotterAlways11: Sorry!_

_Beffax3: I'm afraid so :'(_

_Mini-star-ninja-kid 132: Yep_

_Starkidtheatregeek: Oh…okay….o_O_

_Mboulougouris: I'm sorry! Huggles_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Joe Moses held his breath as an alarm went off as a warning that the machine had been switched off but it was ignored and a moment later the nurse turned that off too. Another moved forward and took the tube out of Lauren's mouth. Now that all the tubes were gone, Lauren looked so peaceful. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open just slightly. The doctor stepped forward and checked Lauren's pulse.

"Time of death, 10:14am."

They all moved forward as the medical stuff left the room. It was April 11th they had lost Joe at 7:23am and now Lauren at 10:14am. At least they were at peace now, away from this existence they had come to call their lives. Joe couldn't help but think they had it better, they didn't have to worry about anything anymore…him and the others were just, left behind. He watched as Lauren's mom stroked Lauren's hair back off her face before kissing her on the head.

"Night, night sweetie."

Jaime breathed out and tried and failed to stop her breath from shaking. She wasn't crying, there weren't any tears left to cry. Now she was just left with an emptiness that wouldn't go away. It was over now and all of the friends they had lost could now rest at peace. June, Nick S, Chris, Nick L, Denise, Jeff, Julia, Dylan, Brian, Joe and Lauren. She looked round as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Joey was stood behind her, giving her an encouraging smile.

"They never really gone, not really. I'm sure they're watching over us."

She smiled at him and turned around as he pulled her into a hug. Jaime looked around at her friends and saw they were all comforting each other like they were. They could get through this and do their friends proud. She vowed there and then to live her life to the full because she wasn't just living it for herself, she was living it for her friends.

Lauren carried on staring at the floor long after the black had swirled through the glass and cut them off from the scene below. It was…over. They had been right, she really didn't feel anything. She'd just died and yet nothing had changed…although wait, something had changed. She looked around at the others and found they had all stood up and were watching her. Lauren could feel it, it was a strange sensation.

"You can feel it can't you?"

She could. A tugging sensation. It felt like someone was pulling at her clothes. Lauren had the urge to stand up so she did. The group gathered round together and held hands. No one spoke and there was a calm silence in the air. They were waiting for something. And finally Lauren turned and felt her breath catch. An elevator had appeared. She was certain it hadn't been there before, she would have noticed it. By now, the others had spotted it and were whispering to each other.

"Are we supposed to go in it?"

"Well it wouldn't have appeared otherwise."

They stayed still for a moment before all slowly walking towards it. Lauren reached it first and stopped. There was only one button, no up arrow, no down arrow, just a circle. She pressed it and the doors slowly slid open. The StarKids all got in and looked around. There was no buttons panel. This was weird. Lauren squeezed Julia's hand and saw she was holding Denise's hand too.

"What if it goes down?"

Ripples of laughter went through the group as Chris spoke. There was a relaxed atmosphere in the air as they all smiled and made their own jokes as they waited to feel if the elevator would go up or down. And then finally…there was a jolt, and the elevator moved upwards.

* * *

Lauren yawned before sitting up and pulling back the covers. It was Saturday so she'd been able to have a little lie in but it never felt long enough. After a moment she stood and shuffled out of her room.

She headed down the corridor and made it into the sitting room, she nodded at Jaime who was sat on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around her before heading into the kitchen. Lauren poured herself out some coffee before going back to sit next to Jaime. She took a sip before concentrating on the TV. It was the morning news.

"A street downtown is still closed off this morning as the police continue to clear up a four car pile-up."

She raised her eyebrows as she sat down. Lauren wondered vaguely who had been involved in the pile-up but she didn't focus too much on it.

"Police sources say the driver of the car that caused the crash was drunk and over the limit.

Jaime sighed. Why was the driver already drunk? It was ridiculous, you don't drive whilst drunk…it's that simple. She glanced at Lauren as sighed too. They shared a look and Jaime smiled slightly before finally standing up. The news had moved on to some less interesting story so with a sigh Jaime padded into the kitchen and started making herself breakfast. She plugged her iPod in to the speakers and pressed play. 'Senior Year' from 'A Very Potter Senior Year' started playing and she couldn't help but smile as she danced around to the upbeat song. She sang along to her bit as she chopped up a banana and did almost jig around the room.

Julia padded into sitting room and smiled at her two friends. Lauren and Jaime were both curled up under Jaime's blanket and watching TV. She saw Jaime was already eating breakfast and Lauren was hugging her red water bottle like always.

"Hey Juls!"

The girls shuffled up and made room for her. Julia sat down and they all snuggled up together. It seemed they were watching The Jerry Springer Show.

"Why are we watching this?"

"It's Jerry! You gotta watch this on a lazy Saturday."

She smiled as Jaime agreed with Lauren. Julia sighed happily as they watched the two current guests scream at each other, this really was what you had to watch on a Saturday.

"What's the date today?"

"The 11th, where've you been?"

Lauren smiled as Julia pulled a face at her. How could she have forgotten the date? It was the 11th of April. It was important…at least it felt important. She wasn't really sure why but it seemed like a date she had to remember. Oh no, what if she'd forgotten something? Oh wait… it was the wrap party tonight! That was it. Lauren smiled to herself…yes that was it.

* * *

Jaime brought in a bowl of chips and put them down on the coffee table. She squeezed in between Julia and Dylan and smiled as she watched Meredith and Lauren do some crazy dance together. Her friends really were crazy. April 11th, the end of a great run of an awesome show. It had been the best show StarKid had ever done. Everything had passed in a blur and Jaime could barely remembering doing the show but she thought it had been good.

"What time is it?"

She blinked and came out of her thoughts as Denise spoke to her from across the room. Jaime turned around in her seat and picked up the clock that they kept on the table behind the sofa and looked at her. It had stopped.

"Oh shoot, it's stopped."

She shrugged her shoulders and looked up at Denise. The battery had never gone before but Jaime guessed there was a first time for everything. Denise smiled at her before speaking.

"At what time?"

"10:14, I'm surprised no one noticed all day."

Lauren stopped as Jaime said the time. 10:14? Everyone was moving on as they found other more interesting things but Lauren stayed still. Meredith stopped dancing and looked at her.

"Are you okay Lo?"

"10:14?"

She looked away as Meredith cocked her head to the side in confusion. There was something…something about that…that time…there…The thought left Lauren's mind just as quickly as it came in and she suddenly smiled and looked at Meredith.

"I'm absolutely fine."

She took Meredith's hand and carried on dancing. Their dancing seemed to last forever, soon the others had joined in and they all danced. Lauren, Julia, Denise, Jeff, June, Chris, Joe, Brian, Dylan, Nick S, June, The Langs, Corey, Jaime, Meredith and Daniel. They danced in almost so motion and smiled as they shared in this moment…a moment together. No one seemed to care that it wasn't just the clock in the sitting room that had stopped at 10:14am, it was all the clocks…but in that moment, it didn't matter. Because nothing mattered anymore…

* * *

_A/N: Okay so you might be confused but there's one of two things you can think. One, the whole thing really was a dream and Lauren woke up and none of it had happened. And that it would never happen. Two, if you've seen Inception and the end where the thing keeps spinning well the clocks represent that. They all stopped and they really are all dead (I'm not saying Jaime and Meredith and are that are dead they've just appeared in this almost parallel universe they're in.)_

_I'll let you decide which one it real…_

_If you still need more explanation, feel free to drop me a message :D_

_Bye! Thank you!_


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